Normally, in the rest of the world the friends of the guy who is going to get married throw a bachelor party. But here, the tradition had all along been such that it is the guy who is going to get married, who throws a party to his friends before he gets married. Until....
There was a mail in the groups from Badri confirming his participation for my bachelor’s party. I was wondering whats going on, as I was clueless. Then, one by one people started enquiring me on google chat casually, when am planning to get married. Jishnu ‘accidentally’ told me that we shall be meeting in the party next weekend. Anyways, I came to know it was a goof up and did not want to probe into further details.
Then, sometime last week, my fiancé (upgraded from girlfriend status) told me to keep myself free the coming 14th Nov, Saturday evening as she would make plans to go out. Also, my B-school buddy, Vishal was coming to Chennai with his wife for the weekend and we planned to meet up on Saturday evening. I told this plan to her. Next day, there was a mail from Vishal saying that his friend is throwing a party in a beach house in ECR, where I should come and meet him and stay over too. The moment I read this, I started laughing. And in a flash I guessed the chain of communication from me to him, through my fiancé, Ajith, DJ/Cha and finally to Vishal.
Ajith had wanted it to be a surprise party and was planning things to detail, but was let down by a few people. I called him up and told him there is no further need to plan a surprise and that we shall go together after work on Saturday. I started from office on Saturday evening and met Vishal who had come to Chennai. Then left my bike at Kaushik’s place and went to the beach-house with Ajith in his car. The place was just before the ECR toll plaza. A nice place with a swimming pool and semi furnished beach-house. Few people were already there and others joined us soon.
A lot of effort had gone in to arrange the party apart from inviting people; Locating and finalizing the place, arranging the caterers for dinner, side-dish, booze (bought over a period of time from army canteen, courtesy Dominic), mixing etc. The highlight was the swimming pool, in the rain and with booze! I got thulped by a mob in the pool, someone got stripped, David almost lost his gold ring and chain. (Incidentally, it was exactly one year back- 15th Nov 2008, also a rainy night, that we celebrated David’s bachelor party in Mahabs and I was on the phone with…). We partied through the night and had a good dinner- a small buffet had been arranged. Few people (including me) tried to catch some sleep, but we were rudely woken up by the party animals to join them and we again continued the drinking. We started leaving for home in small groups by about 4:30 am, while a few slept off at the beach house and left later.
Anyways, it was a great party and I appreciate all the efforts taken by Ajith, Dom, Prabhu, Mak, Kaushik and everyone else for coming.
Also, if any of you wonder why this blog has been used as a means to communicate that am getting married, please realize that you are not the only one wondering so..
The attendees- Ajith, Kaushik, Dominic, Lakshmi, Bala, Kama, Reju, Dosai, Chidambaram, Vinod, Prashanth, Hari, Rajashekar, Varun, Bra, Katz, Brijesh, Dodo, Prabhu, Maheshwar, DJ, Doc/Uncle, Srinath, Rajesh, Bobby, David, Niranjan, Mak, Venki, Ravikiran, Goa Raj, Nirmal, Jeep Raj, Gokul.. (anyone else? ping me offline, I’ll update..)
Click here to view 24 carefully selected photos suitable for public viewing (courtesy Mustang’s Camera and mine)
Again, thanks Ajith.. Good one!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Coastal Drive'09
This is a 'journal' of my 9 day coastal drive with Mak aka Arun Kumar. (Dominic was supposed to come along, but his boss decided to jack him at the last minute). The plan was to attend RTMC 8th Anniversary in Wynad on Oct 2 & 3 (Friday & Saturday) for which we started on 26th Sep, Saturday morning.
Mak and I started from my place in the morning and hit the ECR highway. We stopped at Midway for breakfast and then hit Pondy before noon. We went straight to the liquor store near La Terrace and stocked up a few beers, Breezers, Tequila and whisky. From there we drove through Chidambaram, Sirgali, Poompuhar and reached Tranquebar. It was a very calm place by the beach with ruins of a temple and a Danish fort. We then crossed Karaikal, Vedaranyam and reached Kodikarai (Point Calimere). We managed to get accommodation at the forest officer’s guest house.
Next morning we started off to the animal sanctuary where you can drive up to the shore. There were plenty of deer, horses, birds etc in the sanctuary. Then we reached the coast and went up a watch tower to see the edge of the coast with the sea curving backwards at the periphery. We started back and went to ‘Ramar Paadam’ and drove towards Ramanathapuram. We crossed the famous Pamban bridge and bumped into a couple of RTMC guys who had come to Rameswaram for the weekend. We drove towards Dhanushkodi till we reached a place where we could park the car and hired a Mahindra 4x4 truck with a couple of families to go to Dhanushkodi. After a fast and bumpy drive we reached. The place was very beautiful with the shallow seas on three sides. We returned and drove back to Rameswaram, visited another ‘Ramar Paadam’ and decided to head off to Tuticorin for the night.
Started from Tuticorin and went to Thiruchendur temple and then proceeded to Kanyakumari. We were driving through windmills for over an hour while approaching Kanyakumari. It was Durga pooja that day and the ferry to Vivekananda rock was halted. We visited a temple nearby, did some shopping and rode to Trivandrum.
Started from Trivandrum the next morning and drove towards Kochi through Kollam, Allepey and reached Fort Kochi where we unexpectedly bumped into Brijesh and Dodo, who were also touring Kerala. Then, we decided to take the ferry to Vypin islands. It’s a ferry where vehicles can drive into a boat and can get off across the lagoon. There are a couple of newly constructed bridges connecting Vypin and Kochi through which we entered Kochi. We checked into a nice hotel and started out to a Pub called Loungevity. There were only 4 customers including us in the place. I had caught a bad cold the previous day and had brandy-pepper-warm water.
Next morning I visited my school after more than 13 years and met my old teachers. We then went to a few tourist spots which were closed and then headed back to Marine drive in Kochi. We took a ferry around the port in the lagoon for an hour. Then, my b-school buddy Cerin joined us and we went to a pub called Couchine and saw India getting knocked out of the ICC Champions trophy. Then another friend of mine, Mahesh joined us, Cerin left for home and the 3 of us went for dinner. We were going back to our room and decided to do some pub-hopping into Loungevity as it was ladies night. There were hardly any women and we had a drink and went back to our room.
Next morning we started at leisure to Kozhikode and checked into a hotel. We then roamed around the entire city by auto-rickshaw searching to buy a ‘hookah’ (cos DJ had told us its available there and we had to find it the hard way that it is untrue). We had dinner and crashed.
The next morning we bought a lot of Banana chips from a local shop and headed towards Kalpetta, Wynad. We again met Brijesh on the highway, reached early and the gang from Chennai started pouring in slowly (including Dominic who was supposed to have started with us the previous week). We checked in and had a nice party at the place. Next morning, after breakfast, about 19 of us in 4 cars (my Wagon R, Goa Raj’s Linea, Dosai’s Bolero and Rohan’s Bolero) started for what was initially a small drive. It turned out into a full day outing and we went to Wynad wildlife sanctuary. We hired 4 jeeps and went for a 2 hour safari in the sanctuary. We came back in time for the party and had a bash. The Chennai-10 Downing Pub-gang gathered at the reception and finished the tequila that we got in Pondy.
Next day, Mak, Dominic and I started off early in the morning and headed off towards Chennai through Mysore, Bangalore, Hosur and reached Chennai well before evening.
It was a great holiday, much needed break from work, with the sea constantly on my left side from Chennai till Calicut, then into the western ghats and back to Chennai. Probably, forty years later, if this blog is still alive, I will cherish this trip, as most of the roads which I had driven through would have probably submerged. (9 days, 2500 km)
Click here for photo album
Mak and I started from my place in the morning and hit the ECR highway. We stopped at Midway for breakfast and then hit Pondy before noon. We went straight to the liquor store near La Terrace and stocked up a few beers, Breezers, Tequila and whisky. From there we drove through Chidambaram, Sirgali, Poompuhar and reached Tranquebar. It was a very calm place by the beach with ruins of a temple and a Danish fort. We then crossed Karaikal, Vedaranyam and reached Kodikarai (Point Calimere). We managed to get accommodation at the forest officer’s guest house.
Next morning we started off to the animal sanctuary where you can drive up to the shore. There were plenty of deer, horses, birds etc in the sanctuary. Then we reached the coast and went up a watch tower to see the edge of the coast with the sea curving backwards at the periphery. We started back and went to ‘Ramar Paadam’ and drove towards Ramanathapuram. We crossed the famous Pamban bridge and bumped into a couple of RTMC guys who had come to Rameswaram for the weekend. We drove towards Dhanushkodi till we reached a place where we could park the car and hired a Mahindra 4x4 truck with a couple of families to go to Dhanushkodi. After a fast and bumpy drive we reached. The place was very beautiful with the shallow seas on three sides. We returned and drove back to Rameswaram, visited another ‘Ramar Paadam’ and decided to head off to Tuticorin for the night.
Started from Tuticorin and went to Thiruchendur temple and then proceeded to Kanyakumari. We were driving through windmills for over an hour while approaching Kanyakumari. It was Durga pooja that day and the ferry to Vivekananda rock was halted. We visited a temple nearby, did some shopping and rode to Trivandrum.
Started from Trivandrum the next morning and drove towards Kochi through Kollam, Allepey and reached Fort Kochi where we unexpectedly bumped into Brijesh and Dodo, who were also touring Kerala. Then, we decided to take the ferry to Vypin islands. It’s a ferry where vehicles can drive into a boat and can get off across the lagoon. There are a couple of newly constructed bridges connecting Vypin and Kochi through which we entered Kochi. We checked into a nice hotel and started out to a Pub called Loungevity. There were only 4 customers including us in the place. I had caught a bad cold the previous day and had brandy-pepper-warm water.
Next morning I visited my school after more than 13 years and met my old teachers. We then went to a few tourist spots which were closed and then headed back to Marine drive in Kochi. We took a ferry around the port in the lagoon for an hour. Then, my b-school buddy Cerin joined us and we went to a pub called Couchine and saw India getting knocked out of the ICC Champions trophy. Then another friend of mine, Mahesh joined us, Cerin left for home and the 3 of us went for dinner. We were going back to our room and decided to do some pub-hopping into Loungevity as it was ladies night. There were hardly any women and we had a drink and went back to our room.
Next morning we started at leisure to Kozhikode and checked into a hotel. We then roamed around the entire city by auto-rickshaw searching to buy a ‘hookah’ (cos DJ had told us its available there and we had to find it the hard way that it is untrue). We had dinner and crashed.
The next morning we bought a lot of Banana chips from a local shop and headed towards Kalpetta, Wynad. We again met Brijesh on the highway, reached early and the gang from Chennai started pouring in slowly (including Dominic who was supposed to have started with us the previous week). We checked in and had a nice party at the place. Next morning, after breakfast, about 19 of us in 4 cars (my Wagon R, Goa Raj’s Linea, Dosai’s Bolero and Rohan’s Bolero) started for what was initially a small drive. It turned out into a full day outing and we went to Wynad wildlife sanctuary. We hired 4 jeeps and went for a 2 hour safari in the sanctuary. We came back in time for the party and had a bash. The Chennai-10 Downing Pub-gang gathered at the reception and finished the tequila that we got in Pondy.
Next day, Mak, Dominic and I started off early in the morning and headed off towards Chennai through Mysore, Bangalore, Hosur and reached Chennai well before evening.
It was a great holiday, much needed break from work, with the sea constantly on my left side from Chennai till Calicut, then into the western ghats and back to Chennai. Probably, forty years later, if this blog is still alive, I will cherish this trip, as most of the roads which I had driven through would have probably submerged. (9 days, 2500 km)
Click here for photo album
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I'll be back!
1984- The Terminator (the year is same as the year of release)
1991- Terminator 2-Judgment Day (the year is 1995)
2003- Terminator 3-Rise of the Machines (the year is 2004)
2009- Terminator 4-Salvation (but the year is 2018)
(There was also one Teraminator, featuring Tera Patrick.. the movie was a major hit during my engineering days)
Now, here is the plot for Terminator 5-Total Damage
In T4, John Connor has rescued a teen aged kid-Kyle Reese, knowing that in the near future that he will be sending Kyle back to the past (1984) to protect his mom. John also knows that Kyle will end up sleeping with her and become his father.
In T5, we go back a bit into the past, after T2 (2001). John is now an irresponsible young man and ends up getting some girl he meets in the bar pregnant. Somehow they get separated in a crowded railway station. He keeps searching for her and keeps wandering, till 2004 where he meets Katherine Brewster and T3 starts off. Then sometime in between T3 and T4, he marries Katherine.
The year is now 2020. John sends Kyle back to the past to 'protect' his mom, when Kyle’s mom comes in search of John Connor asking him to spare Kyle’s life and not to send him on such a dangerous mission. It is at that time, when John realizes that this is the same chick that he had knocked up in 2001 and also realizes that he is actually Kyle’s father.
T5- Coming soon to a theatre near you...
1991- Terminator 2-Judgment Day (the year is 1995)
2003- Terminator 3-Rise of the Machines (the year is 2004)
2009- Terminator 4-Salvation (but the year is 2018)
(There was also one Teraminator, featuring Tera Patrick.. the movie was a major hit during my engineering days)
Now, here is the plot for Terminator 5-Total Damage
In T4, John Connor has rescued a teen aged kid-Kyle Reese, knowing that in the near future that he will be sending Kyle back to the past (1984) to protect his mom. John also knows that Kyle will end up sleeping with her and become his father.
In T5, we go back a bit into the past, after T2 (2001). John is now an irresponsible young man and ends up getting some girl he meets in the bar pregnant. Somehow they get separated in a crowded railway station. He keeps searching for her and keeps wandering, till 2004 where he meets Katherine Brewster and T3 starts off. Then sometime in between T3 and T4, he marries Katherine.
The year is now 2020. John sends Kyle back to the past to 'protect' his mom, when Kyle’s mom comes in search of John Connor asking him to spare Kyle’s life and not to send him on such a dangerous mission. It is at that time, when John realizes that this is the same chick that he had knocked up in 2001 and also realizes that he is actually Kyle’s father.
T5- Coming soon to a theatre near you...
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