Ashish Rathi, born 28th April 1983; married to Priyanka, 28th April 2009. Lucky guy! He doesn't have to remember another anniversary. Lucky gal! She can give him one gift every year and cover the anniversary and his birthday! :D

The wedding was in Jaipur, the pink city. An acclaimed tourist spot and city of forts, it sizzles at this time of the year at 45 degrees Celsius.

Fun, food and extravagance are usually associated with Marwari weddings. Ashish's was no exception. However, the fun, food and extravagance was throughout the 28th and the 29th when I was in Delhi and Jaipur with my very good friends, Mohit, Neha, Tawheed and Ashwin.

For starters, the trip's planning went haywire, being reduced from 3 days to 2. So it was a rush from office on Monday evening to the airport to catch the flight to Delhi. I arrived at the swanky new Terminal 1D in Delhi. What a nice welcome :). And while waiting at the baggage pickup I spotted my old friend Astuti who I haven't seen in years. She helped me catch a cab from a reliable service provider EasyCabs. Apparently you can call them and inform them of your arrival time. They'll keep a cab ready.

The cab drive was interesting too. Cab # 6061 was driven by this rugged yet polite Sardar. The cab was surprisingly high tech - with a 7" LCD screen which had the customer details, map, GPS, driving directions, rates.... among other stuff - first time I'm seeing something like that in India; I was impressed.

Mohit and I caught only an hour of sleep after our long chat before we woke at 4 to catch the Ajmer Shatabadi at 6 am to Jaipur. Neha joined us at the station and Ashwin was expected to meet us at Jaipur station. The omlette they served on board was the best I've tasted ever... no jokes! It was thick, soft, hot and had all the subtle flavors to reach all the corners of your mouth.

Ever opened an oven baking a cake and moved your face to sniff the cake? Feel the scorching air? Yeah....? I felt the same when I stepped out of the air conditioned compartment at Jaipur station.

The "Apno Holiday Resort" outside Jaipur is made for the Marwari wedding. From the cottages for the marriage party to the large lawns to accommodate "lawn receptions". It's there I had my first authentic Rajasthani food. Spicy, heavy with oil & ghee, hot, ... it was a mouthful. And I enjoyed it! The sweets and the preparations of curd were the fire-extinguishers after all that masala. Good stuff!

The evening wore on with the typical Baraath and other ceremonies, where the four of us had our own fun. Neha and I were spotting the next-to-be-weds and the girls who were looking out for alliances. It's quite odd and interesting to watch the scene - girls, make-up artfully done, clothes and jewelry carefully picked, made subtle statements with their poise and movement that they were available. Grannies and aunties were wished, complimented and subtly reminded that they were looking at potential daughters-in-laws.

After accompanying Ashish and joining him with Priyanka, we left them to bravely battle the multitude of cameras, relatives and pooja ceremonies that stood between them and the dawn of their first day of married life.

Then we quickly hatched a plan to return to Delhi that night. Tawheed, who had joined us later in the evening, dropped Mohit, Neha and I at the bus terminus, while Ashwin left to Ajmer, his home town. We reached in time to book the last few seats on the Volvo bus to Delhi at 0000hrs. Then .. grrrrrr..... The bus broke down at the terminus.

They replaced the 44 seater bus with a 41 seater bus. And guess what? Our seat numbers were 42, 43, 44. Providence had it that two passengers did not turn up. So two seats were available, ... but there were three people! We got offered the bus conductor's seat. And I said 'YES'!

For those of you who have not noticed the Volvo bus' seat for the conductor, it is beside the door, opposite the driver. The seat was snug, with *the* most awesome legroom a seat can provide. Couple that with the feeling of sitting in air, 'cos the seat is suspended. Add the extra large windscreen of the silky smooth Volvo and the feel of a Volvo accelerating from 0-80kmph on an empty highway... WOOOOW! Clearly, *the* most awesome bus ride of my life!

Unfortunately the lack of sleep and the heat of Jaipur took it's toll. I don't remember when I dropped off to sleep. :(

After the four hour drive, we crashed at Mohit's place.

When we woke in the afternoon, it was time for lunch and my journey to the airport. I had another tasty rendezvous with Sindhi food at Mohit's table, over stories of Sindhi culture.

Unfortunately, with no time for shopping or to taste Delhi's famed food, I was back at Terminal 1D. The insides are super. I'm not sure, but I think there's something about wonderfully made buildings that make the people who work inside very relaxed and pleasant. The airport gives a feeling of space................... and of light. The guards, the staff at the check-in counters, ... everyone, had this *nice-ness* about them. Hmmm.

I took the leisure of strolling down Terminal 1D's retail stores and clicking pics of the place. But I stopped when I realized security could mistake me for someone doing reconnaissance. I lost track of time.... I just opened my KFC zinger burger when the boarding call came (yeah, I know, I had a sumptuous lunch at Mohit's place,... but I *could not* resist buying something there).

As I walked to Gate 19, I burnt my tongue and food pipe, carelessly downing Costa's Medio Cappuccino. Man, their "Medio" cup had 330ml of coffee! That's Large, dude,.. *not* medio by Indian standards!

And then I heard a "Clinton??!!!!". "Raghav?! What are you doing at Delhi?". "What do you think, man?" (I'll leave that question unanswered, 'cos my MBA friends who know Raghav would also know what he was doing in Delhi ;)

Raghav's an Assistant Manager in ITC, handling 20 dealers in Kolkata region. His product portfolio consists mainly of cigarettes. And he doesn't smoke. I promised him I would make the 4 hour flight seem like 10 hours ;D

I finally reached Chennai at 7.30 pm, after 4 hours of worthless chit-chat, loud laughing, the occasional foul word, weird glances from the air-hostesses, rebukes from fellow passengers, 4 newspapers and an odd tasting mixed fruit drink from the free food quota that Raghav was entitled to on his corporate ticket, in an airline in which you buy your food on the flight.

And now, all that remains is to upload the photos, publish this blog and hit the pillow for tomorrow in office. Man, that was a *Super* 2 days!