September 10, 2007 | Awake & Dreaming

So we were all set to go to our former colleague and always friend Vinitha’s wedding in Thrissur. I booked a 14 seater mini-bus (also known as a traveller) from the guys who get us the pick & drop for our company and the 11 of us who went, shared the expenses. I reached the office, which was our common departure point, at 7:45 am and 45 minutes later we all got in the traveller to get to the hall. It was funny how we started out noisy as hell with some singing. I just had to re-enact the scene of two nights ago in which Neil, after we had the party and later, the drinks, decided to bless the street with his puke! He was teased for a while and we all had a laugh.

A little later I noticed that it got quite, little sleep & hunger having caught up with most. Shalina also was not feeling top notch. There was a smell in the bus and it was hotter than hell; I guess the AC sign painted on the bus was just for a joke! Anyway, she sat next to the window, expecting puke to arise to the surface at any moment. People were soon complaining about hunger and we looked for an appropriate place to stop to get something to drink & eat.

I spotted a small shop on the left and jumped off to get a big lays, some local chips, a bottle of water & a bottle of juice. We ate some of that but no sooner had Shalina drunk some water that she started puking on the side of the bus. We stopped so she could puke everything out. We started off again, late as we were and just about managed to reach the wedding hall as the bride & groom entered for the rituals. We grabbed some seats and tried to wave to Vinitha. A few minutes later, we went to the front for a better viewing point and for me to take some photos. And every time I got a good angle for a shot, some asshole professional photographer or his lightning assistance or some wanker would get his ass in the way! I wasted quite a few photos in this manner. Plus the camera has a 6 second delay which I could not change, since I am not familiar with the settings, it being my sister’s camera and I am using it for only the second time.

Anyway, once the rituals were over, people started going up on the stage to wish the bride & groom and to get their photos taken. We also went to wish Vinitha and her husband and then headed over to the lunch hall for the usual sadhya. Once filled, we headed out back to the mini-bus and made our way back to Cochin. On the way, Shalina puked out all the contents of her lunch and we went to get some lemonade to settle her stomach. That done we headed back home.

I got down at Kalamassery and Neil & I went to Marine Drive to first order my new glasses (the old ones are nearing death) and then went to Barista for some cold coffee to cool down after being in the hot oven of a bus. We sat there for sometime and then he headed to his house while I went to Sherina’s and got the data cable for her camera, so I could transfer the photos to my hard drive and then onto Flickr!