Aamchi Mumbai Part II

The first part of the Aamchi Mumbai post was in regards to the first four or five days upon reaching there from Delhi. This post will have the details of what happened the last few days prior to leaving for Jaipur.

After the few days that we spent with my Badi Masi’s family in Andheri, we went out to dinner at The Flute, this very enchanting restaurant that served variety of foods such as Italian, Indian, Chinese, etc….

As we were coming home from the restaurant, we were passing by a hotel that caught not only my eye, but also Lalit Mama’s eye. He knew that I was looking for a hotel where Neeraj and I would be able to stay later when we brought our American friends to Mumbai. We went inside to get some quotes and decided to come back in the next day or so to finalize.

We have some close friends, Prasad and Kavita that used to live very near us and now have shifted back to Mumbai. Prasad is like my brother, and we hadn’t seen them for two years now. They knew that I was getting married, and so we made sure that we could meet up while we were in Mumbai. Prasad and Kavita picked us up, and we went to the top floor of the Intercontinental Hotel across from Nariman Point for very yummy Italian food. We started talking just where we had left off from last time; sometimes its amazing the relationships you keep and maintain even though you are so far away.

The next few days went by with talking to Neeraj on the phone to finalize all of the marriage preparations such as his clothes, sagan/lagan festivities, and hotel decorations. Due to both of us busy preparing, we would only be able to talk to each for short conversations throughout the day. Other time of mine was spent inside, as I was told my both families to not head out in the sun. Mumbai in general was hot throughout the ten days we were there.

Without heading out in the sun, there is no way you can go shopping, so whenever I would go out, I would take a handkerchief and cover it on my face so that the sun would not affect my skin. I looked like a daaku (thief) most of the time.

So much was still left to do as all of our train tickets to Jaipur were still in RAC (reservation against cancellation), and we made double bookings in the AC and non-AC cars just so that we would be ensured a ticket. After the AC tickets were finally confirmed, we made several trips to the Churchgate station to cancel the non-AC tickets. What a hassle.

As the time got closer to go, Mumma’s friends and nani’s neighbors would come by to see us, give blessings, etc… Two days before we were going to leave for Jaipur, Mumma’s old friend was over and all of a sudden nani’s health deteriorated. She began to vomit and was not able to eat/drink anything. It was one of the scariest times of my life as I watched my mother put all of her to-dos aside to be with nani. Mumma and Papa sat with nani throughout the day and night to make sure if she needed anything that they could help. They had called the family doctor, Dr. Sheth, and he had come over, prescribed the medicine, and told nani to not take any stress.

The day after nani began to look and feel better which made us relieved. It was decided then that nani wouldn’t travel by train with us (due to her health), but she would go by plane on Monday with Lalit Mama and Anita Mami.

Our train for Jaipur was leaving from Bandra on 13th May, and what would you expect the dulhan to be doing the night before she has to leave? Finish any last minute packing? Complete any shopping that is left? No, I was working on job stuff. I had to download software so that I could able to send in time reports, check my email, etc… With the Internet speed being so slow at home it took me more than three hours to complete my tasks.

Saturday May 13

The day was here, we were leaving for Jaipur. This was going to be a busy day from the beginning as we also hold the Satyanarayan Pooja at nani’s home as well in the morning, Mumma and Papa still needed to pick up Neeraj’s ring from the jewellers today, amongst other last minute to-dos. Everything, from the beginning of this day, was running late.

Before the pooja even started, we got another scare — nani began to get the same symptoms as before. She was vomiting and feeling very weak. All of the sudden the atmosphere in the home had changed and focus was on nani. All of us kids were given tasks to do, Heena called Dr. Sheth, Chandni called Lalit Mama (her father) so he knew about what was happening, and I went downstairs to the second floor to ask our neighbor, who happened to be a doctor, to come up and help. The next few hours until we left were really tough for everyone. Heena couldn’t get ahold of Dr. Sheth, and we tried many different things to see if nani would drink anything — but she couldn’t keep it in. Finally the doctor aunty came upstairs from the 2nd floor and checked nani’s blood pressure, etc… She recommended some medicine, to get some caffeinated drink like Fanta, etc… Chandni and myself literally ran through the gully to the nearest chemist to get the stuff that was needed. Time was slowly passing, but the pooja hadn’t started yet. Were we even going to Jaipur today? All of us wanted nani to get well again, and I really wanted her to be with me at my marriage.

Lalit Mama finally reached around noon, the pooja then began. After it was over, we received the prasad and now the decision needed to be made. Lalit Mama said that you all must go, and we will watch nani’s health the next few days to see if she will be able to come. Now it was time to get the bags in the taxi cabs. Mumma, Papa, and I had to take all of our bags plus the carrom board that we haven’t been able to take to the US for the past two years because we weren’t going to be coming back to nani’s house on this trip. We had around 6 big bags and 3 hand bags, then Chandni & Heena both had 2 bags each, and then we had 6 crates of Alfonso mangoes. How in the world were we going to get all this stuff in the train?

As we got all 13 bags down three flights of stairs, we now were waiting for our private taxi cabs that Lalit Mama had gotten for us. Time is ticking, and everyone is getting worried. It will take a good hour for us to get to Bandra from our home near Marine Lines, and it was getting to that mark. Finally they both showed up, we all got in, and boom:!: on our way.

We reached only to find out that we needed to check the list to see where our seats were — yup, four seats one way three seats the other way (Surat wala mama/mami and Arpita were also joining us on the way). Now what? Well, we all got in — Chandni, Heena, and myself in one dabba and Mumma Papa in another dabba. Atleast we were all in the AC with all of our luggage and going to Jaipur.

Next: The journey to Jaipur and the beginning of the Masti

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.