HALL OF FAME

We owe serious and heartfelt thanks to some amazing friends.....

Aneesha Chopa: BFF. Chief Wedding Planner. Responsible for not unleashing Bridezilla. Painted 140 pipal leaf skeletons with gold paint for table centre-pieces. Opened hpuse, heart and mind to planning this wedding. Aneesha s absence was the darkest cloud over our wedding. BFF always!! I still cant believe she wasnt there and we got married without her!!!
Was quarantined due to swine flu in the family and had to miss D -Day :C

Anita Chopra: Aneesha's mum. The magic of the hall was all her planning and contribution. Since she was also quarantined, she reluctantly handed over to the more than capable Samia.However, she sent a tempo load of home-made magic tricks for the hall!!The wedding favours were her idea!!

Wendy D'Cruz: mum-in-law who made the beautiful cards using her artistic skills, also the mural we used in the hall (the cartoon couple). She helped with everything and organised the choir.

Samia Khan: dear old friend, erstwhile Production Designer, who jumped in at the deep end and gamely took over from Anita and made the magic happen! The "upside down lilly pool' was all her!

Petronella and Ashley Eates: Sweetest cousins-in-law, this couple spent all Sunday in the hall working their magic with Samia. Peta also took loads of pictures!

Sabah Siddiqui: Dear, dear friend who gamely made hundreds of paper flowers, helped with lots of little chores and was a true friend of the bride!

Caitlin Burke: Lully, all gangly a year ago is now a graceful and elegant swan! She was bridesmaid, and helped with dozens of little things. Her good humor extended to making us watch " Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging" before the wedding!

Family D'Cruz:John Wendy, Daniel Ewelina, Joel Shauna, Nina, David, Nico and Ray: my new in-laws. They carried precious parcels from across the seas for the wedding brunch,they made hundreds of paper flowers, fetched, carried, strung flowers, decorated the car, made decorations, painted things, played beautiful music and sang like angels. muaaah!!!

Vivo: Vivo came and gamely tied flowers on golden bamboos.

Sudipta: Dearest Sudipta's good humour and outrageous statements had everyone in splits thru the mehendi, the hen night and the wedding day. This woman can be counted on to wave her magic wand and produce make up, jokes, laughs, assemble table centre pieces, and wotnot!!

Rachel Reuben: Ahhh.... she s the BEST. Am I blessed or what?? My dearest friend styled me, Alekhya and ROb. The clothes, the flowers, the hair, the makeup.... she wanted me to look "ethereal" and I did..... Best Woman at the wedding...Words fail me. Rach has been family for years, to me, to Rob, to Alu and to Mike.

Sean B: Best Man, who didnt lose the rings but was late and had the bride circling the Turf club in her car! His sms said it all: I had a great time. You married my best freind. What else could I want?:)

Shabari Shetty: My telepathic neighbour. We have the SAME taste in curtains, crockery, tupperware, wrapping paper... its insane!! Plus she has to be forcibly restrained from cooking and coming with heaps of food for parties. She opened her home, her hearth and her heart for the wedding and all of us basked in her warmth and laughter.

DJ Agnel: His wedding gift to his best friend's sister was to play the funnest music ever at our wedding, and we laughed and danced away to Goan Masala and good ole goenchi tunes!

Janhavi Borawake: The baby sister I ve never lacked cause I ve always had Janu. She was brilliant.

Leila Fernandez Khambatta: Lola, Lolly, Lolita Lempicka: sister-in-arms for all mad things. voice of reason. best person in a crisis. most organised person.and always full of surprises. She was responsible for making the wedding brunch the yummiest ever with the divine creme brulee she brought. Among a million other things...

Ketan & Rishika Dossa:My baby brother and his wife. Ketan was the best MAster of Ceremonies ever! He had the audience in splits and the wedding rocked thanks to him. HIs "item number" with his gorgeous wife sure spiced up the dancing!!

The Merrie Men: Taizoon, Appu, Bunty, Aleem, OJ, Zaheed: Robin's merrie men made the evening delightful, helping everywhere and keeping our spirits up!

Rustom Sherdiwala: Best-est photographer ever!!! So now we have super pictures of our magical night. He was patient and laboured for hours to give us 1200 photos!!xxxx

Shahine Ardeshir & Zareen Bahrucha: Soul sisters. Thanks for being there in all the important ways.

Niloufer Ebrahim: The wind beneath our wings, she has tirelessly worked towards keeping us together and helping us deal with all the obstacles and hurdles in our path.

FR Peter: Robin's uncle who blessed us at our wedding and genreously and rightly concluded that God is always with us, everywhere.

Taizoon Baker: Best Man #2. Thanks for getting RObin to the altar on time!!! (among a million other "taiz" things he did)

Michael Remedios: His love, his warmth, his smiling face and spirit of joy helped this wedding become even more magical!

M*I*A

Thos who did not attend..............


A: Aneesha Chopra- Mistry. Anita Chopra. Andrea Falleiro. Amin Haji. Annie Sukheshwala. Arun Saigal. Adfilmvalas. Ayesha De Sousa Family.

B:Bobby Nishant Aurora.Bruce Dunn.

C: Carl Bhiladvala. Charlotte Haji. Cyrus Wadia.

D: Dhruv Saigal. Deepankar Chaturvedi. Dossas Nitin & Yatin & families. D"Souzas, Clarke House.

E:

F:Fernandes Family. Farah Bharucha.

G:Garcia Bhiladvala. Good Morning Films.

H:

I: Insiyah Shikari.

J: Jayeshwari Bhinai. James, Paul & Shauna.

K: Katie Hoosein. Karsihma Karnik. Kate Wadia. Kunal Kapoor.

L:Leela Kumar.

M: Malini Bhatia. Meenal Sreenivasan. Monika Gulati. Minal Makar. Meetashi Makar.Marques Family. Mark Cruikshank. Manali Dossa.

N: Nachiket Joshi.Neha Mirchandani. Nirvana. Noyonika Bhaduri.Neil Juneja.

O:

P: Priya Vithani. Prabhakar Shetty.

Q:

R: Raoul Juneja. Richa Singhal. Rustom Mistry. Rodgers. Ryan Falleiro.

S: Shayaan Mistry. Shirin Dhabhar. Sandhya Juneja. Singhal family. Shiva. Soniya James.

T: Taariqa Raj.

U: Uncle Pat. Ujaala.

V: Valentino Gaspar. Vikram Oberoi.

W:

X:

Y: Yakuta Poonawalla

Z: Zareen Bharucha. Zoo Grips Jib team. Zokkomon Crew.

HOW TO POST A COMMENT

HELLOW!!!
HAVE HEARD MANY OF YOU FIND IT HARD TO POST COMMENTS HERE. ITS RATHER EASY, WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE COMMENTS BUTTON, YOU NEED TO SIGN IN. CHOOSE YOUR PROFILE WHICH IS YAHOO, GMAIL ETC (IT POPS UP) AND YOU USE YOUR EMAIL ID AS A SIGN IN AND EUREKA, YOU CAN POST A COMMENT!!

SO CAN THIS BE MORE THAN ME WAXING ELOQUENT?????? WRITE IN PEOPLE, THIS WAS MEANT FOR ALL OF US TO SHARE IN THE LAUGHS!!!

Shopaholic's Diary

Today I rediscovered the hidden treasures and earthly delights of good, ole, under-rated MG Road. I definitely spent more money here on one long expedition than I have in any mall or superstore.

First, I found parking immediately. Maybe because it was the unearthly hour of 3pm. Most of Main Street was still shut. That was a damper. I mean, people STILL take off for their siesta??? Apparently Pune hasnt changed all that much!!!

First stop, CT Pundole. ( actually that's coz I was parked just besides their store)and 'hello' to Robin's class mate Hormaz Pundole. Then Half an hour perusing dress watches for my hubby-t-be. I wanted to give him something special, and he's not a jewellery person. Found what I liked within 5 minutes, but did a full chukker to make sure it was 'the one'. Take a peek on D day!!

Fell in love with an exquisite Balmain ladies dress watch but desisted. Control, control, I'm very proud of myself.

Next stop, kolsa Galli. Was actually headed to somewhere on Centre Street, near Mulchand Sweets ( also Robin's classmate and by far the best mithaiwala in town: his ras malai is to DIE for) and Kalidas Gandhi, but stopped opposite my favourite bakery, Persian for a whiff of freah broon and scrummy jam tarts. There stands a little hole in the wall, Lupesh Cloth Centre. My vote goes for it being rechristened "Alladin's cave!!"

Two hours later, and after numerous calls to Rob to get there with the cash ( he had this weird idea that Kolsa Galli accepts plastic, which they don't) I stagger out having purchased a dozen gorgeous saris in a rainbow of colours for all the maids and wives of assistants. There's a deep magenta nav-vari for Susheela bai from #40 Sopan Baug, a bright orange with an exquisite royal rani pink pallu for amma. Carmeline gets deep purple with a haldi coloured pallu. Kumar's new bride get's a pretty pink and purple ( ok, so Im a pink and purple sari person and I have 3 myself). Rust for Sameer's wife. Greens and salmons for the other maids. All in all, a very good haul, with petticoats and fall to match!! I haggle and plead and come away with a darn good deal!

I have also yapped with Sonalie and accomplished much with her on the phone. Who says we cant mulit-task??

I crawl into Persian and regain my energy with a flaky chicken patty from Persian and some pizza base for Alekhya.

I wander back to Pundole, collect the gift, and wave Rob and FIL on their way to buy more booze for the wedding.

I stride towards the mecca of homeware, hans metals and am greeted fondly.The kadhai cannot be repaired. I buy a hardy tawa that the maids wont be able to scrub the teflon coating off. Some steel utensils, a new kadhai on their exchange offer, and wonder of wonders, finally... the perfect flatware. I have been looking for a good set of tableware for over a year, and I finally found a solid german set. AH!!!! What joy!!

I lug the very heavy bag next door to the affable Pradeep at Gulab jewellers and am joined by Rob & his dad. We settle on our wedding bands. K.I.S.S.

Back to the car, depositing more heavy goods onto the seat. The gym bag glares at me and I swear I will rush and get my booty on that circuit.

I call Leila who says she will come in 15 mintues and help me with the upholstery ( I have been desperately trying to get her for the last month or so for this). So I meander down Main street and find:

cotton dresses for nana, from two very frail, sweet old men who spoke in kutchi ( not knowing it's my father's tongue) and they promise to cut the cottons to size and stitich them for me all by tomorrow. They are disappointed I buy only 4.

Flex shoes has white faux leather school keds for Alekhya ( the canvas ones get soaked in the rain , plus we are polishing them all the time). I also peeked into Bata and Liberty but they didnt stock these. I get her white socks, ankle length.

At Dabholkar's I get her what she wants most: a transparent exam board. Yipee!!

I also find her a burberry patterned insulated lunch bag. And munch on a bar of snickers for some energy.

At Yemajee's I gaze at pretty sheer white curtains with girlie pink tulips embroiderd, but give them a pass.

Leila and Ali arrive and we scrounge through Indo- Foreign for new upholstery. I was right, she has exquisite taste and I shall now be 'elegant' instead of good, ole "bohemian". Think teal, taupe, bronze and sand.

We rush to Yemajee's for more fabric. And we're HORRIFIED to find we have FORGOTTEN Ali in Indo - Foreign!!!! ( It's the old case of I -thought-she-was-with-you) Leila dashes back and finds the sprite! Whew!!!!

Left alone, I find more lovely blues and order some more fromthese lovely samples they have. It's a bad, evil place. There s floors of pretty fabrics, in many colours and they have shimmery curtains, deep jacquards, jewel-hued bolts of glistening silks.

I am so happy they give me a huge discount without my even asking for it.


And now I am home and so happy and well- shopped I couldnt do this in a million years. ( I just did one WHOLE DAy with Sheetal....last week)

Tonight I shall dream of my elegant new living room.

Note to self: DO NOT FORGET TO TIE PIGGY UP WHEN I USE THE NEW SOFA COVERS AND CUSHIONS AS HE HAS RIPPED 1 DUVET, 1 BED SPREAD, 1 SHAGGY RUG AND 2 CUSHION COVERS IN THE LAST 3 WEEKS.

FB Conversation with my madcap, soul-mate GFF Samia

Samia: Hey mail before tomorrow evening. Leaving Muscat tomorrow night. Call you once I get my plans fixed in Calicut. What happenend. Why the panic?

Samia:i just can't remember the spelling for this fucking word anymore.....that h word....i feel like a five year old struggling with big words......

Raadhika:have assigned big duty to you and need to confer before so you can say no if you want!! also need u to meet my aunt in bbay as i want to assign yu to her on the decor!!! :P say u will darlin!!!

Samia:yeah what big duty. as long as i don't have to marry robin or have illicit sex with some one to make your life easy, what big duty do you have in mind. Yeah, i'll meet your aunt. anything else. and no i will not be sharing my bed with anyone either!!!!! might make an exception on the sleeping or sex bit maybe...but i have to know who it is, what gender....specifically male on the sex bit, preferably six ft and above and more on the lanky side. no goras....but i might make an exception there also....

now can you stop with the fucking buildup and tell me what the fuck it is. supense....oh queen of hyperness makes me freak a bit....

and incase you haven't understood....yes. and no offense to robin. i'm a little off cradle snatching currently. LOLOLOL.

Radhika Dossai really want to post this converstaion on my blog: do you mind????

51 minutes ago:Samia Khan: no if it gets me advertising....which i need desperately and a fan club, which also i need desperately and a really amazing human being who can give me loads of things.......yes go ahead. i am pretty much unreserved.


Samia, I LOVE YOU!!!! So does Rob!!!!! truly, truly!!!

The 10 commandments of Shopping

What an absolutely manic monday!!!! But oh how I DO thrive under pressure!! I got sooo much done today, and so did Robin!Here goes...

Diary of a Shopaholic (of sorts) who is about to be married:

Rule #1: comfortable clothes and footwear essential for the expedition. Wear the hot pink wellies that lully gave you, and carry the crocs for lighter weather. Ah, not forgetting the acid green kolhapuris for a dry day!
Rule #2: phone a friend, and chat, and 'walk and talk'- what an idea, sirji!
Rule 3#: Car essentials: water, a snack, change for parking, a big brolly, lots of spare battery on the cell.
Rule #4: Have a friend join you. Before that, have the groom and FIL join you. Reeeally makes you want to throw away the visa!
Rule #5: Carry spare invitations so you are not stuck buying the groom a gift from his friend's store and having to evade the "whats-the-occasion-for -the-splurge' interrogation.
Rule #6: Make sure it's a wet, rainy day so you can spend more time browsing stuff.
Rule#7: Send the Mother on errands with her visa on her side of town, thereby saving on travel and time.
Rule #8: Delegate some more. Get BFF to get her mom to shop in Bombay!! And save more time and travel!
Rule#9: make a list and shop smart.
Rule#10: walk, walk, walk!!!And walk some more!

from ale

the recipe for happiness cake:1 wicked stepfather,1pepper hot chocolate mom , one smart-sophisticated-pipsqeak sugary alekhya. mix together with 4 furry dogs, 1 well-ripened greatgrandma. a dash of grandmother for spice. Garnish with 1 papa, 1 crazy cook. Mix well and toss with love. Watch as it rises in the oven. Ice well with cuddles and hugs.sprinkle with kisses and smiles.