Dev's Marriage and the Chettinad experience

The boys' tickets with me drove me early to the station, where Hemanth and I spent several minutes searching for Rameshwaram express, which was apparently parked in one of the central platform's. Our countenances didn't reveal how snubbed v actually felt!
The train began in its characteristic limping speed as v settled disturbing everyother co-passenger within our immediate vicinity, in our efforts to accomplish nothing worthwhile. The mouths moderated themselves, often leaving the mind behind, generating laughter and enthusiasm, not to mention the occasional bleeding around ears! Tempted by packs of cards brought by Swathi, we spread a bedsheet, for a table, between us and sat like fishermen waiting for a catch. Our irresistable influence drew the lady, the only stranger in our cubicle, to us who agreed to play for Jesanth, who hadn't even the knowledge I've about the game. The enterprise ended right there after a CRPF deliberated his objections, however loose the grounds were.
While all this was happening, someone kept visiting Vidhu, rather irregularly, blowing wind into her ears everytime he called upon her. Thinking it could be someone who exchanged his ticket with our's, we dismissed without giving it the drill of our curiosity.
The limited choices we had sent us under our bedsheets for a sleep which ran swifter than the train, a jointconspiracy with time, and we were awake to see the sun rise after a very long time. Guess what? Archana was in no mood to break her record, and went a little longer snoring. Somewhere inbetween we learned that the stranger was a part of our contigent, hence we exchanged priliminary information.
Karikudi welcomed us a little post dawn and we were moved to the Mandapam in a van, that drove through the narrow arterial clean streets, lined on either side by traditional Chettinad style houses at regular intervals, setting the first impression of a beautiful city that was very different from home.
It wasn't without shocks; the foremost being the allotement of rooms for boys and girls in separate quarters. I beared with it and moved on showing no signs of disappointment on my face. And I believe that it was the case with the other boys aswell. There was someother thhing that demanded my immediate attention and that was hunger! And hunger, despite ready availability of food arranged in a tempting display on plaintain leaves could not be had owing to the norm of bathing before breaking fast. Just when we hurried to our room to water wash our bodies, we discovered that none of us had brought a soap, hoping to use any one soap of the ones brought by the others. We managed a Mysore sandal from a nearby shop and glossed it on our bodice more for scent and less for cleansing, and sat to dine within an hour. The girls were already there; shocked, I enquired and learned that the smarties had skipped the ritualistic bathing scheduling it after break-fast.
My uncivil hunger made me eat like a savage, tossing in wat was closest to me, even if it were on the others leaves. I relished the Karaikudi break-fast despite my famished state at start. The serving was impressive and the taste atypical of anything of the same name in Chennai, colluded with my hunger to make the meal taste extremely good, into which I dug my face. Even before we finished our break-fast, the news of an awaiting feast of Chettinad non-vegtetarian cuisine for lunch at the groom's inn, made our famished boys eat less to reserve space for a greedy lunch. Things, however, didn't augur well and the 'lunch'plan didn't survive, and treaded the same path as did the sight seeing proposal. The difference was that, the 'lunch annulment' was not a craft of the girls.And so we sat together once again for a wholly macrobiotic meal. Naturally, the boys having learnt their lesson from the break-fast experience, ate as much as what an mad elephant running rampage over fields would have destroyed.We hardly knew what went down our gullets, frantically poping items spotted on our leaf. Between break-fast and lunch was the visit to a Kovilur shrine, famed for its tall rock-cut Pandyan era sculptures. The temple dedicated to Sri Kotravaleeswarar has an interesting mystical story of lordess Thirunellai Amman descending to perform a miracle to protect the food grains of her devottee Sivagupthan. Im sure there are many such legends. This monumental architecture raised by king Veerasekara Pandiyan is truly a marvel by all means.
As planned, I departed to meet Sherley at her place. The first phase of the ride, in an omni, spilt my legs to accomodate the gear stick inbetween. I had nightmares everytime he shifted to the second gear. Thank god, there was never a need for the fourth and reverse gear! The remaining distance was covered in bus and in moped, behind Sherls brother- Jerome. The evening spent with the wonderful family is the rarest of its kind. I enjoyed every single minute I spent there, as it didn't seem like being there for the first time. All thanks the house. It was a hard decision to resist the temptation to stay there for the night, after the idea was mooted by uncle. But, I knew I had to go, and stuck to my second thoughts and left the beautiful home, carrying with me memories of moments spent there and the heavy consignment after Maiths oredered for few.
IT was pretty dark, though not late, by when I reached Kovilur. I saw the girls walking towards the main road as I walked into the streets. Stopped, to have the introduction of Sneha Priya, who apparently was a classmate of my classmates before we became classmates. Swathi pointed to the cloudless night sky that glossed with glittering stars strewn carelessly by hands that had no respect for its beauty. And yet it seemed so beautiful.
Back in the hall it was once again time for food-dinner-and, while everyone else dinned, I scheduled it till the last service. I was absolutely moved by the girls' gesture, giving me their company by sitting surrounding me as I dinned. Far more patient this time, I remembered uncle's- Sherley's dad- advice to first eat the prefered items to have a fullfiling meal. The choices were plenty, often confusing which to pick first and which to skip or leave till the very end. It was, rather surprising to learn the existence of a Tamil tradition which single-mindedly rejected Sambar from its menu. I'd never conceived a Tamil soceity in Tamil Nadu that doesn't float its food under Sambar. And I wondered at the alternatives the Chettinads had evolved; they are simply endless.
The night outside the hall was as beautiful as the day. And if not for the nasty mosquitos, I would have lost many more hours of sleep. Identified the new guy- Balaji- at the stroke of midnight; guess it's not all that bad to learn at that time!
A new day was born, the choices on the menu kept increasing, which was diversifying the troubles a friend-Buvana-had. At one point, it reached the climax, when she could no longer stand the chemistry lab in her, and consequently fell fainting over my suspecting arms. It's not all that cool as it seems when such a thing happens in the celluiod. I could have easily torn few of my ligaments had I not found a place to rest her nearby. Our "kollywood-trained paramedics" took stock of the situation and brought things back normal with nothing more than a wet towel and semi-dried lemon, that was hung from the vehicle's front frame.
From the surprise cutting of the wedding cake to the 'enlightening' discussions in the railway station through the frentic fooding and travels, the day was just amazing, and nothing like anything before.
The stocks rolled into Egmore with palpably reduced zest. But, Archana was unrelenting in her determination to maintain her 'sleep record', not quiting her berth until the train came to a complete halt in Egmore. And the best thing was that, we hadn't stopped enjoying. There was no apparent nostalgia, entertainment had its way till the terminus. And Im sure, with these kind of people, it will never caese to be. It was one memorable journey that all of us had.