Atul's marriage in Latur

It was RAC 1 when I checked it last time before leaving the office at 6:15 pm and the chart was not prepared. I thought it was too late and i had to settle with RAC 1. When I reached Dadar I asked Ranju to check the PNR status again and the good news was that it was confirmed as B1/49. "Thank god I don’t have to spend the whole night sitting", i thought. Train reached on time and i jumped into B1. I thought i made a mistake as it was AC coach. I again checked if it was really B1, but it was B1 only. How can I get my seat in AC when I had booked sleeper class ticket!I didn’t want to spend 3 rupees on sms that’s why i called up Ranju again and asked her to recheck. But it was B1/49 only. I had no option but to check PNR status on sms. No luck it was B1/49. I thought there must be some error in the software so decided to wait for TC. We do believe that softwares have bugs. :) Meanwhile I just thought of going to seat no. 49 and check who was there. There were 3 elderly looking people sitting. Just to confirm again I asked them if their seat number is 49 or something else. As i thought they were allotted seat number 49, they showed me their ticket also. Then it was clear to me that there is definitely some goof up. First I thought if Ranju has booked ticket for 25 June or for some other day. I checked the ticket and found that I was wrong in doubting her. I started making my mind to spend the whole night sitting some where in the train.

Then came the TC and gave me the most pleasant surprising news that i had been allotted seat number 49 in AC and the people sitting there had to move to other coach as their booking had been upgraded. I could not believe that these things happen in India. Somebody has rightly said "Bade bade deshonme aisi chhoti chhoti baate hoti rehti hai!" But it was not a small thing for me.
I was actually traveling in AC coach with sleeper coach ticket. Really a big thing for me. Pravin had taken parcel so that we can eat properly in the train. As I could not join them in their bogie leaving my bag all alone, Devidas came and gave me my bag which had Tripple Chicken Shejvan rice, my favorite Chinese dish. It was very delicious, I enjoyed it a lot. I was getting a royal treatment that day!.

I was actually going to Atul's marriage which was on 26 June 09. What a day he selected. 26! It was on Friday, he intentionally kept it on Friday so that his friends can attend the marriage. The plans for travel were already going on one month before the marriage. Kaustubh, Pravin, Devidas, Mehul, Gurdeep, Vinayak and Vinayakee (Deepa) had decided to attend the marriage. They had decided to spend the weekend in Latur visiting Akkalkot, Tulajapur and Chakur. Kaustubh was taking care of all the logistics. I confirmed myself just 5 days before and that’s why I got tickets in waiting list for both onward and return journey.

Train reached Latur at 7:30 am as per schedule. Atul had already arranged a car for us which took us to his aunt’s hospital. No.. no… nobody was sick or injured but we were supposed to stay in the hospital. They had made sure that no patient was admitted for 2, 3 days so that all the guests can comfortably spend 2 days. We quickly got ready in an hour and took 2 autos to reach the hall which was in the city.

We started having breakfast; no need to say we were hungry. Atul was all set to go to Hanuman mandir which is just 10 minutes walking distance away from the hall. But it took us half an hour to go and another half an hour to come back. Atul was sitting on a horse and we all were dancing in front of him on the tunes of a local band. When we reached the mandir, Atul was not allowed to set his feet on the ground. His mama (maternal uncle) while going and his elder brother while coming back picked him up. All were so happy and enthusiastic that we saw them, the whole day, doing similar things which looked funny sometimes. We didn’t waste the chance of clicking some photographs around the mandir. While coming back somebody asked Atul to dance and without any hesitation he started dancing as if he was just waiting for somebody to ask him for dancing. It’s quite unusual that the groom dances in his own marriage.

When we came back to the hall, a Purohit was already waiting for Atul to start the marriage ritual. The bride and the groom both are Maharastrian but the marriage was being done in north Indian fashion. Thanks to the Purohit who was taking all sort of promises from Atul and Anjali. He was also giving some gyan to the couple so that they spend their life together happily. It was all funny that no one including mothers and fathers of the bride and the groom was able to hide laugh. On one occasion he asked Atul to bend. Atul thought it is one of the rituals and bent down. The Purohit announced then that on a normal occasion he would not have bent but he bent just for Anjali. He dint forget to add “Jhukati hai duniya, jhukane wala chahiye!” The hall packed of people burst out into a laugh.

Initially when we entered into the hall it was not full. Since one side of the hall was relatively full, we all boys sat in the other side. Soon the hall started getting full. It was too late to realize that the other was for ladies. We were completely surrounding by ladies from all side and we started feeling embarrassed. Finally the Mangalashtaka started and at the end of it the bride and the groom got ready to garland each other. But it was still not easy as Atul’s friends picked up Atul so high that Anjali could not reach him to garland. It would have been a defeat for Anjali’s family if she failed to reach him so they also picked up Anjali. Finally both garlanded each other. This is the moment when the bride and the groom turn into wife and husband.

Somebody announced to proceed for lunch and we went downstairs for a buffet lunch. It was full chaotic situation but we managed to enjoy the lunch. It was time for reception and we decided to go and meet Atul and Anjali on the stage. We were not carrying his marriage gift there as it would have been difficult for him to carry it back to Mumbai where they will be staying. We tried to arrange for a bouquet but we didn’t find it anywhere. Anyway it doesn’t matter. We went on the stage and clicked a couple of photographs with the newly married couple. Here comes the real fun. Atul is known among his friends for troubling badly newly married couple on their marriage. He always carries a small dairy milk chocolate and asks the bride to hold it in her mouth. Now the groom has to snatch half of it in front of the whole crowd. You can imagine how embarrassing it will be for them. So his college friends decided to return it back with enough interest. For him it would not be a chocolate, it would be a piece of khadi sakhar (rock candy). Anjali hesitated initially but there would not be an escape for both as his friends were not ready to spare him. Finally like a brave man, Atul managed to break the piece of khadi sakhar, which Anjali was holding in her teeth, into two pieces. One was in Anjali’s mouth and other was in Atul’s mouth. They had to show it to everybody as a proof!

It was 2:30 by that time so we decided to go back to the hospital and rest for some time. We took rest till 6 pm and again joined them in barat. They had arranged for a DJ. This is the first time I saw DJ in barat. We all danced like crazy for 2 to 3 hours on the tunes of dhinchak songs which included mostly Hindi and Marathi dance numbers, Marathi koli songs and few Telgu songs too. I don’t know the words of Telgu songs but the tunes are still playing in my mind; contact Deepa to know the words. Mehul, who is a Gujju, was doing Garba on every song. He didn’t even leave Telgu songs for that. When we came at Atul’s home, knowing these are final moments of dancing, we danced in full swing. This time we didn’t spare Anjali also. This is the first time I saw a bride dancing in her own marriage.

Just before the dinner we sat together in hall with Atul and Anjali where. They were forced to play few games. We call it a tradition. One of the games includes hiding a ring in a pot full of red color water. Then they have to search the ring, whoever finds it, wins. Atul won it two times while Anjali once. Another game involved Atul holding a Supari (betelnum) in his two fingers and Anjali could use her both hands to snatch it from him. She did it easily. Second part of it was, Anjali enclosing a supari in her palms and Atul needed to remove it using only 2 fingers. So bad huh….this is not fair. Atul took time but managed to do it. Some of us started wondering if it was match fixing. We came to know it later that he used his nails to make it possible. There is a ritual in Hindus that every lady has to take name of her husband in a poem. Atul and Anjali both were prepared and easily took names of each other. Old ladies sitting there made sure every married lady does the same. One of the best was “Marutichya mandirat udbatticha suvas, **** chya tondala bear cha vaas.” Ladies sitting there forced married men to take names of their wives. Now it was turn of all bachelors. I was horrified by the idea so I silently left the room. But it was not at all difficult for them to know that I had left. They forced me to come back. Some bachelors sitting there made poems on the spot to take names of their dash dash. Some of the poems were so stupid that you can’t even call them poems. This one was narrated by Atul’s elder bother. “Aaj aahe India ani West indies chi match. Dash dash che naav gheto Atul, Anjali chya lagnachya divshi!”. Pravin too made a poem on the spot: “Chalu aahe pandharichi vaari and mi shodhato aahe bayko bhaari!” By the time my turn came it was too late and all decided to have dinner. Thank god! We had dinner and enjoyed first innings of India and WI match where India scored 300 odd runs. We went back to the hospital and had a nice sleep. We were supposed to go to Akkalkot and Tulajapur the next day.

Vinayak arrived in the hospital early in the morning. When they reached I was still sleeping. They could not join us yesterday for marriage as they joined their respective new companies very recently and didn’t get a leave. I was the last one to wake up but I got ready ahead of everyone. I still had some time before everyone could get ready so I decided to continue reading “Paths of Glory”, a novel by Jeffery Archer on mountaineering. It’s quite exciting to read it. It was 9:30 am by the time everyone got ready. Atul had invited us for breakfast so we went to Atul’s home which 10 minutes walking distance away from the hospital. It was Saturday so I had fast and I could not have anything there. We left for Akkalkot, which is around 150 kms away from Latur, at 11 am. Kaustubh, who had left us yesterday after marriage to visit his relatives in Solapur, joined us on the way.

We reached Akkalkot at around 1:45 pm. We decided to have maha-prasad, for which we had to stand in queue for one hour. We can at least stand in queue for one hour to get maha-prasad. I decided to break fast by taking lunch and then not to have dinner. They have, not so great, but decent arrangement for maha-prasad where more that 500 people can have maha-prasad together. I had almost started having maha-prasad when I heard them announcing that we needed to remember Shri Swami Samarth and then have maha-prasad together. The maha-prasad was tasty. We decided to make some donations for maha-prasad. My donation of Rs 100 was nothing in front of mammoth donations of Rs 10,000 by some people. Then we went for Darshan of Swami. We spent some time there before leaving. I bought a couple of CDs for Baba. I won a bet of a sugarcane juice against Vinayak and Kaustubh where they were claiming that the song being played there is sung by Kartiki and not not by Mugdha (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contestant). It took us few seconds to verify as the song was being shown on a TV. Before leaving Akkalkot we visited another mandir where Swami took Samadhi.

It was around 60 Kms Journey towards Latur to reach Tuljapur. We had to again stand in a queue for one hour for a couple of seconds Darshan of Tulja Bhavani. Neverthless it is worth. We took some snaps after the Darshan. It was almost 8 pm when we finally left for Latur. Before arriving at the hospital, we went to Hotel Eaden garden, which is quite away from the city, for dinner. Our cab driver refused to drop us back as it was already 10 pm. Fortunately Atul arranged for another cab. It was 12 am when we finally reached the hospital. We had good chat before going to bed. We had to explain Mehul the motive behind Atul’s snatching khadi sakhar from Anjali’s mouth. Deepa was quite reluctant to come to Chakur next day as she wanted to rest. But finally we agreed that we would leave for Chakur little late at around 11 am. I read some part of “Paths of Glory” again before going to sleep.

As usual I was the last person to wake up but not the last person to get ready. Without wasting time I got ready within 30 minutes as I wanted to ready the novel before we leave for Chakur. While I was getting ready, all other had gone outside to have tea. They also brought morning snacks. So one problem was solved. There was still some time left before the cab came so we utilized that time enjoying taking snaps in the hospital garden. This is not just a hospital; it is also home of Atul’s aunt.

It was almost 12 when we left for Chakur which is 40 Km away from Latur. It took us hardly one hour to reach there as the road is pretty decent. The atmosphere was ideal. The sun was hiding behind the clouds and still it was not raining. When we reached there, we realized that the place is worth coming all the way from Mumbai. Its is newly made temple of various gods. The temple is on a hill and takes shape of Pindi. It has enough space to sit and spend hours peacefully. The main temple is surrounded by many small temples of Lord Ganpati, Kartik, Godess Parvati, Gayatri and other gods. There is small artificial lake in front of the temple with many ducks swimming inside. We spotted few tortoises too. We took enough time to click photographs but we could not manage to fit the whole temple in one snap.

Near the temple there is an amusement park and also a Water Park. For the Water Park you have to pay Rs 215 and for the amusement park the entry fee is only Rs 35, but you need to pay separately at each play station if you decide to enjoy it. It was almost 2:30 pm and we needed lunch badly. We didnt have much expectation, we simply needed something to fill the stomach. It took some time for food to arrive; meanwhile we spent time clicking photographs. Finally when lunch arrived, we were surprised by the taste. It was delicious! I was expecting few of us to sleep after the lunch but we had become kids the moment we saw toy train. Though most of us travel in train every day, we were excited as if we have seen a train first time in our life. It was a small round in the train but still we enjoyed it clicking photographs. We spent a lot of time playing dashing car and gun shooting before we finally decided to sit for a while. We had to leave by 5:15 pm to ensure we reach back Latur on time to catch 9:30 train. Obviously we felt we should have spent more time sitting there.

We reached Latur in an hour after we left Chakur. I had a bath to feel fresh. When everybody had left to have tea outside, I remained with Archit, who was sleeping, and enjoyed reading the novel. Archit and me is an unbelievable combination, one who has been in any of our picnics will know why. Archit, the son of Vinayak and Deepa, is just 7 years old. Though when you meet him for the first time you will think that he is the most innocent guy on the planet, you will soon realize he is not. He is very naughty and will do exactly opposite of what you say. In one of the picnics, I gave him a scold stare for some reason and since then he is very much scared of me. Though I want to, I try not to be friend with him so that I can control him. The last night, as usual he was making a lot of noise, accidentally came into my room. It was very unfortunate for him and he soon realized his mistake when I asked him to sleep there. He had no option but to sleep. For five minutes he kept his eyes closed waiting somebody to come for his rescue. Though his eyes were closed I could easily see movement inside his eyes. Poor boy! Finally Deepa came and asked him to brush the teeth. That’s all he needed; He quickly jumped from the bed.

We reached Latur station 15 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. The trip was excellent except only one thing to worry about for me. My seat was not confirmed. It was RAC 14 this time. I was hoping for some miracle like last time but this time the luck was not with me. To make it worse another 2 passengers were sharing a seat with me. However TC told that at around 12:30 we might get seat. As usual we all enjoyed dinner in the train which we had carried from Latur city. I spent some time, after the dinner, reading the novel before somebody switched off the lights. As he said, TC gave me a seat at around 11:30. I was happy as it would not have been possible to stay awake in the office the next day. But there was a small problem; a person was already sleeping there. When TC asked him to leave the seat, he claimed that he was a PSI at Osmanabad and should be given proper treatment. But TC was not ready and asked him to go to a general bogie. While I was sleeping there, that person was still sitting there for half an hour. I finally decided to take on with him. But fortunately he left the place before I could say anything. The journey was very good as I slept peacefully.
I have a plan in my mind to take Aai and Baba to Akkalkot and Tuljapur and also to Chakur. Let’s see when we go there. All the best to me. :)