The unknown connection!!!

We had narrowed down the marriage location to my current hometown considering the logistics and feasibility issues involved in inviting all our guests... with the mandapams equation going in a totally different direction, we had to choose one of the two roads ahead - one, change the marriage date to a more feasible later date and the other, go back to our roots -> find a marriage hall in God's own country!!!

My fiancee and me, were in for this one... Surprisingly, it was our parents who weren't all that keen with the second option. After some thots, aunty (my fiancee's mom) agreed to do some research of a place she knew that cud fit in like a 'T' with our requirements in mind. Most of my fiancee's relatives are based in "Chertala". Naturally, this was the next favorite destination to explore for our marriage.
Strangely enough, i seem to have a lot of ties with this city called 'Chertala' alias 'Allepey'... My lovin grandpa used to stay here, my mom is from this place, i was born here (X ray hospital) and now the story continues - My fiancee happens to be from this place and very co-incidentally, she was also born in the same hospital a few years later :-) :-) Just that it took me more than a quarter of a century to realize this unknown connection!!!

It was clear to my in-laws as well as my parents by now that there son wasn't interested in one of the conventional mandapams they have been looking for all along... the place aunty had in mind took care of this. Its called 'Travancore Palace'... I guess, they modeled it on the real palace with this name in Thiruvananthapuram or, just intended to cache in on the fame of this palace.

I was glad i had asked aunty to send me a picture of this place once she saw it...looks awesome, couldn't ask for more!!!

Twists, Turns and Dreams!!!

I have been dreaming of bringing my fiancee to CA for quite sometime now. Out of the blue, her work permit gets approved on 30'th Aug 2006... Needless to say, i am all excited, charged up and what not!

Here comes the Twist - the work permit will have to wait, her current project needs her more than me. She is keen to give a neat closure to things in her hand before moving on, and that makes sense in way too (just not for me :-)). While i deal with this thing, here comes one more - her employer needs more time to get her to work in California. (Read, MM isn't all that lucky as he wanted to be :-))

Now the Turn part, being the logical guy that i always try to be, working towards a solution, i see my choices are limited here... If my fiancee can't make it to where i am, i can try to make it to where she is. So, comes up the plan for another India trip! This trip will mark the Big Day of my life that i was always scared of till sometime back (till i fell for my fiancee)...
To proceed forward with this plan , I need to get my vacation hours sorted out with my employer, see if my parents can find an auspicious day, see if my fiancee can manage to take some days off, and see to it that the timing of my vacation doesn't fall into the window where my client can conveniently chuck me off!!!

After lots of dilly-dally'ing with when the D day shud be with parents, in-laws, fiancee, we finally settle down for an end of week Nov day... right when i started thinking that a logical solution has been arrived at, here comes the next road breaker -> the day we thot and finalized as an auspicious day, happens to be an auspicious day for more number of people than the total number of Mandapams can accommodate in the town where my parents live!!! Never did i imagine that i wud get struck with something like this... Parents, in-laws and all the rest of our well wishers don't see any hope for the D day, unless the date or the day or some other constraint is altered!!!

Quote

We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
-Aristotle

One Beautiful Life!!!

There isn't ne th special i meant to say with the title for this blog... Let's put it this way, Life continues to be wonderful with watsoever Googlies one gets to face in life!!!

My favorite inspirational lines-
You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.

- Steve Jobs