Memories of Wedding at Chicago


Dear All,

I was only waiting to get back home and for Bumbu to compile some of the pictures taken during the great family reunion in Chicago.

I came back with a heavy heart and a sense of loneliness not felt for long ----wishing I did not have a job to go back to. In fact when we were getting ready to come back, Anu asked "Mama are we going back to America?". Her question best explained my feelings!

We drove 11 hours to Chicago in our old faithful Honda Civic --the trunk packed with 5 suitcases as this was the first wedding in the family after we had come to the US and the first one that the kids would remember. That evening, Simba (Pishi's faithful), kept his barking continuously on because people were arriving until 2 am! Mithun reached at midnight, unscathed by her 48 hour trip to the US with 3 of her suitcases missing. (After many episodes of puking and head reeling she settled down to the US of her dreams!) Finally when Partho drove Pat and Erika in at 1.30 am in the morning, Simba gave up his primordial instincts and did not bark again until all of us left the house for good!!

As they say "no one in the Ray bari dares to get up and leave an 'adda', lest the rest of the gang start speaking against him/her". So we all stuck together within the perimeters of the dinning room and the kitchen all the time, gossiping, eating, drinking, watching old bengali movies and laughing uncomfortably loud!

Erika is a very very nice girl. She took the onslaught of cousins/uncles/aunts really well, I must say. She allowed us to get her dressed the Bengali bou way with flowers and orni and khopa and bangles and gold. She was very brave when she sat down on the 'peedhe' to be lifted by her brother and Dada, and two other American men---who were very bewildered when they were forced by Pishi to abandon their cameras and help in picking up the Bou (as Partho and Bumbu were missing in the last minute--looking for some wires and connections for the slide show!). Erika clutched at her brother's shoulders and kept her eyes religiously closed until the Shubho Drishti. Later on Dada said "she was pretty light!"

Bumbu and I had carried a 30min slide show for after the wedding that showcased almost all of you from India thanks to Pishi mailing me many many pictures from all thru Pat's childhood years. So in a way all of you were there at the wedding! The slide show was followed by speeches. Partho's words brought tears to my eyes. He has always been the big brother. In fact I was telling him that this slide show would suffice for his wedding too as he was there in all the pictures with Pat! All we need is a girl. In fact the priest made a mistake at the wedding and pronounced the groom's name as Partho instead of Pat! Ah!Yes!! the priests!! I will let Dada write about them.

We returned home from the wedding to open Christmas gifts. Pishi had gifts for all of us. Then Mithun and I went to set up Pat and Erika's room and bed! We got carnations from the wedding and made garlands out of them and stuck them from the ceiling. The roses we kept on the bed with a card that said "life is a bed of roses" and in paranthesis "just for tonight"!! Everyone signed the card and it was good fun when Pat described the next morning how the garlands came flying at his face in the middle of the night when the scotch tapes came off. I said "that was pushpo brishti".

Many old tales came up of Pat and Partho as kids and their trips to India. One night all men (including Rudra) played Age of the Empires on their lap tops and brought the roof down while Mithun and I watched Shuma, Anu and Joy do the Salsa. Another night all of us watched a romantic Bengali movie. At the end of it, Dada decided that since no one writes romantic emails to him anymore, he should ask Bumbu to write such mails to him hereafter! Another night they (all except Dada) engaged in the topic of 'whether Bush did the right thing invading Iraq'. Dada sat with some of us like the Great Bodhi Satwa Tree--- disinterestedly eying the Bengali movie in one room---his ear mostly concentrating on the discussion in the other, but definitely not participating. Finally when the argument was over, he told Pat "I am glad you guys could sort out the situation without my intervention".

Pishi took a lot of care of all of us. She has this thing about utensils not sitting in the sink for more than 3 seconds. So I kept trying to beat her at it. Whenever I would start cleaning the dishes she would come running to push me away and say "Aare kano korchish, dishwasher aache". But the dishwasher went into hibernation in the 7 days that we were there---because she kept washing them. And there is the scene of Pishi flitting about like a ghost in the middle of the night putting extra covers on each one of us that I will never forget!

Rudra and Anu almost slept with Simba every night. The last picture that Anu took of the celebration was of Simba wearing Pat's 'topor'!!

And I will give a special prize to Pishomoshai who was the most patient man in the house, bearing the onslaught of Rays for 7 days!

Here is the link for the Indian Wedding pictures. I am sure someone will send a link for the American wedding soon. We could not make it but I have heard that it went of very well. I am in fact trying to upload the slide show at a website so that all of you can see it too.
Go to:
www.webshots.com (My Shots, Albums)
Username: XXX
Password: XXX

With much love and fond memories of all of you in India and wishing you a very Happy New Year filled with more family reunions.

Julie

PS: As in all such happy occasions I have come back to Maryland with many unmatched socks and new under garments --- to be exchanged at the next wedding!