Thursday, April 30, 2009

Bangalore trip - A personal event

Bangalore has changed, and at the same time, there is not much of a change. The traffic is woeful, the sediments of dust settle from all angles, and as I was standing in the imaginary queue to pick up something for dinner, Chetan nudged me from behind and said "Maga, idhu Bostonalla, this is Bengaluru." Both of us had a grin!

Anyway, this was a very short homecoming trip to Bangalore, and the visit was as pleasing. There are two things about a long duration journey. Firstly, it is very uncomfortable to sit in the crammed up space in Lufthansa. It is as though you have not paid a penny for the flight, and the flight attendant and the crew are doing a service to mankind by loading as many people as possible. The food was not bad, but having stayed at home for a week, I think my taste buds are elevated to the next highest level. So, thankfully, I will be taking some home made food for the return flight. It is well worth the extra effort, even though it is your mother who is putting that extra bit. Secondly, it is pretty interesting to sit on a long duration flight, if you can meet some fascinating people. It is altogether a different matter that I have stopped expecting beautiful girls to take their place next to mine in train, flight and bus journeys. That was never in destiny, and now, never! So, I was not surprised, when an old couple took seats next to mine, en route Chicago to Frankfurt. But, I quickly struck conversation with them, and I realized that, that was the best thing that I had done. They were a Jewish couple from Israel, and we covered a lot of topics ranging from India to Israel, the Palestinian issues, along with science & technology. It was a pleasant conversation, and I was really pleased to see the depth of their knowledge.

Yes, coming back to the real essence of the Bangalore trip. I have to say, with all pleasure and happiness, that I have got engaged to Hema Iyer, who has to put up with all my poor jokes and gibberish talks for life. The marriage is scheduled for September, and I invite all my blogger friends and readers for the September event in Madurai. Madurai is known for its cultural heritage, and a couple of hours drive will take you to the beauty of Kanyakumari. There are also a lot of scenic places around Madurai, which should serve as a good motivation for all of you to make your presence felt for the marriage. Looking forward to meeting you all in person, and will also make sure, that the invitation reaches every one of you by mail.

19 comments:

  1. Congrats to you and Hema (Best of luck for PJs) :). Now stop expecting for a beatiful girl next to you on your return flight.

    I am sure you enjoyed 5 days trip to India. Have fun.
    -Yadu

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  2. Wish you both all the best - and now you will always have a beautiful girl by your side on all your trips.

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  3. horrayy!!!:-) Firstly, wishing you and the extremely fortunate beautiful girl best of happiness!! :-) Seconly, unfair!! ;) why madurai? malleshwaram is a great place too you know (u do love malleshwaram don;t u?)...so why not, eh? so that I can visit you guys, and sit in the front row as they play the vaalaga and watch the world go by! :) (presuming that im invited of course!!) jus jokin...all the very best, once again, have a great life ahead, Mr. GK!!!

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  4. Was waiting for you to write a post on this !!! Congrats once again and you both make a wonderful pair :)
    and yes, I do pity Hema for having to put up with ur jokes !!! Good luck Hema ;-)

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  5. Hey Praveen,

    Congratulations to you and Hema on your engagement! Good to know the wedding is in Madurai..do dedicate more blog space to that special someone now!

    Cheers!

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  6. Hi, I do read your blogs and find them interesting. I wanted to express my congratulations on your engagement. Wish you all the best!

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  7. Hi All,

    Thanks a lot for the wishes :-) Kindly grace the occasion with your presence!

    Yadu Anna and Suchitra,

    I am blessed to be in the receiving end of his PJs. They rock! he he ;-) btw it wont be long before you shift your sympathies towards him once you ve seen my quirky side :-)

    Raji Maami,

    Namaskarams and many thanks for the wishes :-)

    Lakshmi,

    fortunate yes.. but beautiful?( guess u haven seen my snaps yet :-) )anyways do make it to the marriage in Madurai. It s a wonderful place. You ll get to see so many beautiful temples. At the worst it wud provide you with something to write about :-)


    Sowmya akka,

    Thanks for your gracious suggestion but I m just a simple and average person with pretty much nothing to my credit :-) so I ll make my presence felt through the comments section :-)


    - Hema

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  8. Hi all,

    Thanks a lot for the wishes :-)

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  9. Congrats to you and Hema.
    --
    Prasad

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  10. Hello Sir,
    This is me dude, I think you know who this is, yes the guy with stage fright.
    First of all congrats to you and Hema for this wonderful pledge, I cant believe Hema went through with this though, she doesnt really know you much, does she?
    More importantly I have another question, what if the prettiest angel sits next to you when you fly home in Sep for your marriage? What if your kismet finally shines just before you take the plunge, what will you do then? Will you just stick to your plans or ..... run away with your angel !!! Its not over until its over dude, pyaar mein kuch bhi ho sakta hai ...
    Just kidding yaar, I think Hema is your angel and you two make the best pair :-) and I know you are the best guy for her, she is lucky to have you :-).
    Chal tc, I'll ttyl

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  11. More population for India!

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  12. What a boring post! What are you trying to say that you are a Bostonian? So are thousands of Indians in Boston! This is not 1963, it is 2009. Indians are dime a dozen these days in every flight in the world. Too many of them!

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  13. Anon,
    Buddy cool!! how are you doing? You don't even have to offer a clue as to who you are. Your comment says it all!!!

    Scorpio,I was a Bostonian once upon a time!!! Boring post!!! Yeah, I actually second that :-)

    I was actually trying to boast that I am a Bangalorean. No wonder my blog gets mis(s)interpreted often :-)

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  14. Lakshmi,Ask Hema as to why the marriage is not in Malleswaram :-) I am always ready to come to Mvm!! It goes without saying that if the marriage was arranged by me, I would have kept it at the Malleswaram railway station, and instead of the Nadaswaram, the hooting of the engine would have formed the marriage musical!!!

    And yeah, it goes without saying that you are invited :-)

    Capt. Anup MurthyThank you very much for the wishes sir! Am glad to see you follow my posts!! Thanks for the nice comment.

    Suchitra,Thanks!! I hope you are coming to Madurai :-)

    SOPThank you for the wishes. Yeah, in the future, will post the arguments on the blog, and you can give the verdict as to who is right! By default, the blog space will be allotted to my better half, then!!!

    Shubhika,Thanks!

    Raji mamiEppadi irukkel! Thanks for the wishes!!! Knowing my luck with flight journeys, I won't be surprised if we are allotted different seats :-)

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  15. Congrats GK. When you fly to India in Septmeber and an absolute gorgeous girl sits next to you, a demonstration of your warm up exercise should make her demand a seat change and you can continue on your journey!!!!Namma Azhagiya Tamizh Magan safety is important o important!!!

    Congrats once again.....pictures iddre share maadi sir!!!

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  16. Madan sirThanks for the wishes sir. Azhagiya Thamizh Magan eppodhum king ma :-)

    Azhagiya thamiz magan naadhan..naadhan... (instead of needhan..needhan, and having got to explain uncomfortable questions) :-)

    pictures on the way!!! :-)

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  17. Hey Congratulations Praveen :)
    Have a wonderful married life...

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