The Indian World Cup Squad

Yes, this is a customary post on the Indian word cup squad announcement, albeit a tad late. Just because I have nothing better to do today. As most cricket observers know, cricket has 3 main departments - batting, bowling and fielding. So let's approach India's strengths and weeknesses in these 3 areas.

Batting: I think we're at a really good place as far as the batting is concerned. As it happens with every world cup in recent memory, Sachin comes roaring back to form on the biggest stage. And this probably being his last cup, I really think this tournament is going to belong to him. Add to that good ol' Saurav who's never been in better form. I almost wrote him off with a eulogy a while ago. But to my credit, I did say that with dada, you never know what's around the corner. Rahul was struggling a bit but seems to have found some form. The same goes for Yuvraj returning after an injury. I happened to watch the Chennai innings of Robin Uthappa, and I have to confess that it was some of the cleanest hitting I've seen in recent times. The bloke is just explosive, and I would love to see a few more cameos from him in the world cup. Dhoni has added an element of solidity to his otherwise 'meri maa ki kasam... teri koon pee jaunga' kind of hitting. Dinesh Karthik is one of my favorite batsman on the team now. Not because he's from Chennai, but because he has consistently come through everytime the team has asked questions of him or threw him a challenge. He's very composed and has all the shots, and by all accounts he's a tiger on the field. The only unpredictable person on the list is Sehwag. I wasn't very thrilled when he was picked up for the cup, but I guess it was always on the cards with his reputation. I would rather see Robin and Ganguly open, with Sehwag in the middle. All in all, the batting looks healthy, full of experience and variety and very much in form.

Bowling: With Zaheer Khan roaring back to form, Agarkar's wicket-taking ability and the metronomic Munaf Patel keeping it consistent, the fast bowling seems to be in safe hands. However, none of these bowlers seem to have the ability to run through a line-up, say like the Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga. But atleast we have a trio of solid performers who are without injuries and therapies. Irfan Pathan would have brought tremendous balance to the team in form, but I still think he could prove useful if he can complete 5-6 overs of tidy medium pace and some explosive hitting at the top. Sreesanth has yet to prove his one-day mettle and might not get to play too much unless one of the front-line bowlers get injured. The spin department is manned by thr old warhorses Harbhajan and Kumble. And unless Harbhajan starts leaking runs, I don't think Kumble will get a chance to tweak anything but door knobs. We have some decent part-time options like Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj and ofcourse Ganguly. The bowling looks okay, but can leak runs on an offday.

Fielding: This is probably what's gonna bring us down in the World cup. Imagine a field with 'misfield' Munaf manning long leg, an overweight Sehwag at cover and aging legs like Sachin, Saurav and Rahul around the outfield. I guess you would agree with me when I say that not many teams are going to lose sleep worrying about where they are going to get their singles against India. To their credit, Sachin still has a powerful throw, Rahul is a great slip fielder, and Saurav has come back fitter and faster. We have a few good specimens like Yuvraj, Uthappa and Karthik, and we need to make sure these guys are used well. And behind the wickets, Dhoni is safe though unspectacular. All said and done, we probably have the oldest and worst fielding outfit of all the big teams in the Cup. And when Rahul says our batting and bowling have to make up the few extra runs lost in our fielding, it sends shivers through my spine. A good fielding outfit can not only save runs, but can build up pressure to provide wickets and breakthroughs. This is what we would miss with the exclusion of men like Kaif and Raina.

Probable 11: Ganguly, Uthappa, Sehwag/Pathan/Karthik, Sachin, Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni, Agarkar, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Munaf.

As you can see, most of the team selects itself. The only thing up for conjecture is who among Sehwag/Pathan/Karthik will be played on a more regular basis. But I guess this might change with opposition/pitch/form etc. With West Indian pitches expected to be a bit slow and sluggish, one specialist spinner is usually required. But it would be interesting if Sehwag and Pathan are both picked at the expense of Harbhajan and Karthik.

Bottomline: We have a good team. Not a team exploding with brilliance, but a team that has finally taken shape, has come together and is quietly confident of success. Though New Zeland and England are on a high with recent successes against the Aussies, I don't think they have the ability to really challenge the big players in the sort of slow pitches we're likely to encounter in WI. We have the ammunition to counter them. The Aussies are perennial favorites, even more so now that their pride is hurt and people have started writing them off. The Lankans and the Windies promise to be the dark horses of the tournament. And I'm still waiting to see of the Pakistanis can actually send 11 fit players who are also not potheads. The South Africans seem to be the favorites at the moment what with their new #1 ranking, a 'back from the dead' Pollock and a seemingly endless supply of allrounders. My predictions for a semifinal spot would be SA, Australia, India and SL/WI. Ofcourse, I could be way off base. This promises to be the most competitive world cup in years with a lot of solid teams and contenders. Its gonna be one helluva ride! So let the games begin...

The Wedding - Cocktail Party

Any Indian worth his/her salt should know that traditional North Indian weddings are not complete without singing, dancing and some good old-fashioned drinking. South Indians, usually alienated from the rest of the country, have become increasingly aware of this through movies like 'Hum Apke Hai Kaun' (We, you and who else?), 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' (The heart makes stupid decisions) and a plethora of song-athons from the Chopra and Johar schools of film-making (forgive my translations). So from the moment my parents announced my wedding to a Northie girl, my relatives started planning their visit around the hypothetical big 'dance' party.

We did not have a 'Sangeet' in the traditional sense. As I later came to know from W, there did occur a brainstorming session, within her group, for songs and skits to do if a Sangeet happened. And predictably, there were a lot of suggestions revolving around bald, dhoti-clad, thick accented South Indian men in Hindi movies a la that song in the movie 'Padosan'. And then they finally came to the conclusion that the jokes might be lost in the great South-North divide and lead to embarrassment. Personally, I would've loved to have the chance to make some good-natured fun at each others' cultures. I would've got the guys on my side to wax their body hair, wear tight-fitting pants and flowery shirts and play chikna Shah rukh or one of the roadside romeos abundant in Delhi. Oh well, no use worrying about opportunities lost.

And yes, there was a cocktail party in the agenda, complete with a DJ, dance floor and strobe lights in one of the best hotels in town. Anyone familiar with my father-in-law would've guessed that it would be accompanied by an awesome open bar. The man knows how to throw a party! There were also kabobs, paneer, vadas and a few other things I forget for appetizers. The food was kept simple with some chinese/Thai along with a spicy chaat stall.

As the evening began, it was clear that everyone had dressed to impress. The South Indian aunties were glittering in their brilliantly-colored silk saris while the North Indian aunties wore designer saris and salwars. These were occampanied by lots of gold, diamonds and pearls. Despite my dad's protests, I had forced him to wear a suit and even black socks. The young guys were all dressed smartly in suits. While W looked gorgeous in a Ritu Kumar-designed Salwar, I was aware that this was probably the only occasion in the wedding when my outfit would be more expensive than hers (I take this opportunity to repeat that I was wearing a CK suit). On the jewellery front, I would say she pretty much shut me out.

When the father-in-law looked to us young guns to inaugurate the open bar, my brother, ET, Goks and SP selflessly came to the rescue. They helped themselves to some beer, beer and rum and whiskey in that order while setting an example to the rest of the shy junta. I opened my account with some Royal Challenge, and very soon 2 big mugs were thrusted into the unsuspecting hands of my mom and dad by the Big W (father-in-law is a bit long to type). Check out the adjoining priceless photo where my family is going to the dogs! As the alcohol started flowing and the DJ started spinning his stuff, people slowly started trickling onto the dance floor. As you would've guessed, it was W's younger friends and relatives who started the proceedings while my relatives took some time to warm up. By the time I finished my round of socializing and introductions and got near the dance floor, I was shocked to see my mom holding a mug of beer and shaking it on the floor. She brought out some original moves which got high praise from all quarters. My dad was a bit shy, but once we dragged him in, he was a different man.

Standing there looking at them enjoying themselves and hobnobbing with my in-laws, I told myself once again how long my parents and I have come. From being the orthodox, ultra-conservative and tight-knit group we were known to be, my parents had opened their minds and their hearts to a completely new culture and people. I was to hear a lot of praise from them later on about my choice of bride, her family and the wedding arrangements. My mom said I had made the perfect choice. And it felt good.

Back on the floor, things were really heating up. ET, the eternal loverboy (or the boy who loves to be in love), had started flirting with my little (cousin) sister (Okay, she's not so little and definitely not innocent, but that's besides the point). I made a mental note to kill him once the party was over. The couple set the floor on fire and ET henceforth came to be known as the 'rubber man' by W's family. Goks was drinking by himself in a corner enjoying the music and getting amused at this interesting mix on the dance floor. My bro surprised me with his dance moves and he was unstoppable through the night. For someone who was perceived as shy and a goody boy, he was gyrating like nobody's business. SP was drunk very fast and refused to eat despite all our urging. My mom somehow felt this incredible bonding to him in their drunken states and made sure he was taken back to his room and tucked into his bed early. W and I were forced into the center from time to time. We would entertain such requests for a song or two and then make our way out to continue our socializing spree.

There was this funny incident involving W's elder sis (let's call her P), my chithi (aunt) and me. I should probably mention at this juncture that for unprepared observers, P appears to be a replica of W. Or should it be the other way around for the sake of chronological precision? So there were numerous occasions when people would mix them up and make fools of themselves. My chithi selected the most inopportune of moments to do exactly that. She dragged me to the dance floor and asked me to dance with P and I did so for a few minutes. When she continued to push me closer towards P, it slowly dawned on me that this was another case of mistaken identity and that she had mistook P for W. I tried pointing this out to her, but I was drowned out by the music. And then chithi went one step further and pushed me with all her might, making sure I banged into P at a speed of 30 kmph or so. And then I had to finally shout "this is my sister-in-law". Chithi had a sheeping grin while P and I laughed our asses off. Though I appreciated chithi's intentions, hitting upon my sis-in-law even before the wedding might have been looked down upon :-) Very soon, my 2.5 yr-old niece Rhea (P's daughter) joined the fray with people forming a circle around her clapping and goading her on.

It felt wonderful to party with our family and friends, especially with ET and Goks who'd planned their India trips around the wedding. Another friend from Chicago, Ram, was supposed to join us for the party but he paid the price for living in a village. His flight from Madurai got delayed (due to a 15-min shower!) and he ended up missing his Mumbai-Baroda connection. He got into town the next day after spending the night at the Mumbai Jet Air lounge, while we were all making merry. W and I were were very disappointed when he couldn't make it. Funkaboy was, being Iranian-born, was sitting tight in Chicago rather than taking the chance and getting his visa stamped. When he called us in the middle of the party, W and I were unsuccessfully trying to find a quiet place to talk to him. Onlookers might have thought we had other intentions, but I swear we did not!

Towards the end, there was a call for bride and groom to take centerstage to some mushy love song. Very soon, all the couples piled on and did their own versions of a ballroom dance. The DJ took some audience requests, and eventually and very reluctantly, closed down the music for the night. After the party wound down and most people left, a few of us were chatting into the night while helping ourselves to the last of the stock in the open bar. And then my friends and I decided to walk back to our hotels (which was just down the street) instead of being driven back.

Once in the hotel room, we piled into the 'party' room. While Goks and I were reminiscing my last day as a bachelor, chandru, SP and ET were playing a childish game of cards called 'mangaatha'. A bit more OH might have been consumed in the process. When I finally called it a night and went back and plonked on my bed, I felt the evening couldn't have gone any better. The Tamil-Sindhi divide was slowly disappearing as the families were getting comfortable with each other. I had been checked out by all of W's relatives and friends and seem to have passed the litmus test - can he dance? - reserved for south Indian dulhas. My folks had fallen in love with W and her family. There were a lot of good moments and wonderful memories.

And I was ready for the Big Day tomorrow... (to be continued)

When I used Newton's law

Physics can be an exhilarating subject, or an excruciating subject, depending on what side of the 'nerd line' you are in. The problem comes with the ample formulaes and cause-effect relationships that this subject has come up with even to explain the simplest of concepts. I know that if I threw a ball, it is going to move for a while and eventually come to a stop. But leave it to physics to go in and put a complicated spin on what is essentially a really uncomplicated concept. So now we find ourselves
1. multiplying force and displacement to calculate work
2. raising it to the power of some random number like 6.023 x 10^26 to calculate the average gravitational pull of the ball with some distant planet and then
3. dividing it by the number of hours an electron stays as a wave as opposed to a particle, to get the energy of the process etc.

You know what I mean. I could do all this with a simple measuring tape for God's sake. So it was with a touch of pessimism and back-bench revolting that I was introduced to various Newtonian concepts, including his apple falling thingie. I knew at an instant that there was no good to be had from all these so-called 'laws of nature'. I knew enough to let a good thing be and not to mess with nature. So imagine my utter shock when I actually used one of Newton's precious laws in a very practical everyday application.

I can see most of you already shaking your head and kicking yourselves for ever bothering to visit this blog, but please stick with me for a minute. Growing up in the middlest of middle classes in Mylapore, I did not have access to geysers for those frighteningly cold Madras winters. It could possibly - yes, hold your breath - touch 22C in the December-January timeframe. And you'll see all the Chennai 'perusus' (oldies) walking around with obscurely colored 'mundas' (pink, purple turbans) and half-sleeve sweaters, complaining about the 'pani' (cold, mist, fog) in Chennai and how you need to be very careful. Personally, I loved winters because this was the only chance for me to request, nay demand, hot water baths and have my wish granted without complaints by my mom. As I mentioned a few lines ago, I did not have a geyser at home. So my mom would pour water in a stainless steel vessel and heat it to near boiling point. Then she would use a towel to carefully carry it and place it in the bathroom.

Now, the trick was to spread this vessel of really hot water into 2-3 pleasantly warm buckets of water. So obviously, I would pour 1/3rd of this hot water (let's call it the source) into another empty bucket and start tempering the second bucketful with cold water till it came to an optimal temperature. Then I would finish the first part of my shower, and then repeat the process with the rest of the hot water. However, this process had an inherent problem associated with it. By the time I finished my first bucket, the source bucket with the really hot water lost a lot of heat and was able to yield only one more bucket, rather than the generally preferable number of 2.0. This was extremely irritating. And I could not very well ask my mother for another round of heating since she would have a pot of sambar, a few veggies and a rice cooker occupying her stove by then.

However, a few days after I got introduced to Newton, I was standing next to my hot water bucket deeply pondering this issue while opening a new bar of lifeboy soap, when, out of the blue, one of his laws came to mind. The law, in its most basic form, goes like this:

Newton's law of cooling, states that the rate of heat loss of a body is proportional to the difference in temperatures between the body and its surroundings.

In layman's terms, what this means is that 'the hotter the water is, the faster it is going to lose that heat in your Madras middle-class bathroom'. So what I did was instead of letting the hot water source stay as it was, I would temper it a bit with cold water as soon as I got it from my mom. Say for example, the source was 80C, I would bring it down to around 60C, then transfer some of it to another bucket and mix this portion with more cold water to bring it to an optimal range of around 40C. And I found that I was back to a total yield of 3 comfortable warm buckets.

As you can imagine, I was dumb-founded. Not by the incredible simplicity of Newton's law, but by the ingeniousness with which I had applied it to a day-to-day problem. That's when it hit me. Physics was not all useless. There were some useful things in there too. All you need to do is look for it and apply it appropriately. So the next time, someone is going on about string theory, quarks or the essential unpredictability of nature, don't sit there shaking your head wishing that an elephant would bury the speaker in its poop. Just know that Physics is essentially a practical subject. You just need to look through all the jargon and useless terminology. Ofcourse, the scientists, physicists and physics teachers of the world do not want you to realize that. Else, they would have to look for new jobs and careers.

The Wedding - Decisions Decisions

It was a warm summer evening, and W and I were taking a walk in the park across from my house. And we revisited THE question once again. The question in question being "do we tie the knot or not?". After 7 years of a beautiful friendship, and being there for each other through thick and thin, it was time for us to decide if we wanted to walk our separate ways or take the big step together. We were quickly running out of time. The last few months had been spent on a bit of soul-searching and our minds were finally made up. We wanted to get married and all that was left to do was say it aloud to each other. On that day, we did (I know I'm not making this sound very romantic without all the details. However, there are some things that are too personal even for a blogger, don't you think?). Having made this decision, you would think everything else would just fall in place. What we were about to learn is that this was just the first in a series of decisions we would have to make over the next few months.

The first thing to do, ofcourse, was to inform our families. This went quite smoothly. As it turned out, both sides were expecting this for a while. However, a wedding between a Sindhi family settled in Gujarat and a pakka Tamil Brahmin from the heart of Chennai was always going to be interesting to say the least. So the biggest wedding decision to be made (ofcourse after deciding on who to marry!) was 'what style do we want the wedding in?'. The choices were

1. A Tamil Iyer style wedding where I sit almost naked - well topless - while my chest hair is getting all burnt and frizzy by the proximity of a fire that deserves a fire engine to be waiting on call. You and your girl are made to sit on a swing while aunties of different ages throw colorful balls in different directions. You have a day full of somber ceremonies, where the bride is gently nudged if she smiles too much and is reminded that she's supposed to look coy and demure. Okay, okay, I know I'm being too harsh on our wedding style. There are a lot of symbolic and even hilarious occasions in our weddings. The groom walking off in a huff and puff, and the father of the bride running after him to convince him to come back and accept his girl, comes to mind. Such a wedding had to be organized in Chennai, and W's parents and relatives would be completely lost. It will inevitably lead to a lot of misses, finger-pointing, and unavoidable gossipping as is the wont in my extended family circle.

2. Then there is the Sindhi wedding, where a few people go to the Gurudwara, say a few words in front of the Guru Grant and are declared man and wife. Needless to say, my relatives would still be wondering when the wedding was going to happen even while everyone else was on their way to the wedding lunch. And there would be a few questions on why a book needs to be fanned constantly.

What we decided to do was to take a middle path here. We decided to have a plain Hindu wedding which would incorporate most customs that are common to both these communities. And ofcourse, the wedding has to happen in the girls' town. I have to give my kudos here to W's parents for throwing a great wedding preceded by a lot of fun events and accomodating all of my side's requests. And I have to thank my parents for being so sporting and open to other cultures, customs and people.

Once the wedding was decided, and the date was fixed, we had to get on with other decisions. Who're all going to be attending the wedding form my side? how are we getting there? where are we staying? Then followed a series of e-mail exchanges between W's dad, my dad, W and me followed by frantic conversations over the phones and various lists with check marks etc. I had also to make all my travel plans within India, and as regular readers know, this was quite a task. We also had to make our honeymoon plans in Kerala, and decided to place it in between the Baroda and Chennai legs of the wedding. This let us squeeze in a few days while the familes left Baroda and regrouped in Chennai for the reception.

As the days went by, I got my fair share of abuse from 'W' for sitting on my ass and not caring about the wedding etc. Ofcourse, these were completely unfounded. I was at the moment caught between the devil and the deep sea - what with my MBA apping, marathon preparation and wedding plans. W left for India 3 weeks before me to complete her wedding shopping, get her clothes designed, hunt for her solitaire (I just had to write the check!) and in general take a big role in organizing the wedding. Her best friend was with her all the way, taking care of the nitty gritty details that even her parents would have missed.

Things somehow eventually seemed to fall into place. All the flight and train reservations were made. I knew my exact travel plans. W was on top of things in Baroda. I even pampered myself with a CK suit and a couple of expensive dress shoes here before leaving. The hotel accomodations had been finalized both in Baroda and Chennai. The invitations had been printed and distributed. And once again, peace and serenity prevailed in c2cLand.

What was even more surprising was that the whole thing went without hitch. The travel Gods were kind to us and trains and planes started and reached on time (although Ram would have a few things to say about this I'm sure). The weather was perfect. People were in a festive mood. Infact, my parents and I enjoyed a few rounds of Glenfiddich the last 2 nights before the Baroda trip. And there were talks of who's going to bring out the best dance moves. Ofcourse, there was some miscommunication/confusion during the actual wedding ceremony which led to a few funny moments. But I guess those are topics for another day.

The Wedding - Schedule, itinerary and logistics

Welcome to the first of what would hopefully be a series of articles on my wedding, the various events and parties in the run up to the main event, as well as the aftermath. I cannot proceed without actually spending some time talking about the logistical difficulties that we were faced with even before the events began. Here's a quick recap of my 3-week stay, or rather travel, in India. And then you tell me if this schedule is for the fickle-minded and the weak-constitutioned...

Jan 15th - Land in Chennai. Ah! home sweet home. Unfortunately, can't meet my brother for another week while he's busy at IIIT Bangalore twisting his ankle, hurting his finger and in general being very injury-prone.

Jan 20th - Flight from Chennai to Mumbai, Mumbai to Baroda. Am welcomed by the fiancee, her mom and sis who's trying her best to embarrass me by video-recording my arrival. I'm whisked away to select my wedding ring. We come back for lunch and then head out again to select my Sherwani for the wedding. A relaxed evening at home with the family and some Black Label, followed by dinner at the Taj.

Jan 21st - Drive to Nadiad (between Baroda and Ahmedabad) for a pooja with the family Shastriji. This was the primary reason for my lightening fast visit to Baroda. After the 3-hr pooja and a sumptuous home-cooked Gujju meal (by the Shastri's wife and bahus), we drive to Ahmedabad where I catch a flight to Mumbai, then fly Mumbai to Chennai. I had earlier in the afternoon received news that my Go Air flight from Mumbai to Chennai had been cancelled. The reason they give out - flight is down - is inexcusable to say the least. The resourceful father-in-law calls up his travel agent while the pooja is in progress and books me on Jet Air.

Jan 25th morning to Jan 26th evening - Navjeevan Express from Chennai to Baroda with my family and relatives (don't underestimate a travel that lasts for the better part of 2 days). The initial enthu leads to lots of photos, Antaksharis and card games. When we've explored all entertainment options and look at the time, we realize we've only managed to while away 3 hours. Another 29 hours to go. Brutal!

Jan 26th evening to 28th evening - Various wedding festivities. Will be the subject of a few other posts.

Jan 29th morning - Still hungover from the wedding festivities, the Missus and I catch a Jet Air flight to Mumbai, then Mumbai to Cochin. We are picked up by a pre-assigned driver and are taken for almost 3 hours through circuitous roads to Kumarakom, around 80 kms away.

Jan 29th afternoon - We both get on the houseboat we had booked at Kumarakom Lake Resort by around 4PM. With a personal chef and 2 boatmen at our disposal and a liberal dose of kingfisher, I would say we were well on our way. Sail ahoy!

Jan 30th afternoon - We get off the boat and check into the actual Resort.

Jan 31st morning - The driver shows up again, this time to take us on the arduous 170 km trip to Kovalam. the missus hits upon a brilliant idea. We send the driver with our luggage and get a complimentary speed boat ride to Aleppey which cuts down around 45 mins on the road for us. Sheer genius!

Jan 31st afternoon - Reach the Leela Kempinski resort at Kovalam after a long tiring car ride. We're both ready to hit the beach.

Feb 2nd morning - A complimentary car picks us up from Leela and drops us off at the Trivandrum airport. We catch a frighteningly small Jet Air flight to Chennai.

Feb 2nd afternoon - Picked up at Chennai by my brother. I show the wife various historic spots in Chennai like Santhome Church, Anna University, Raj Bhavan, IIT, my school and my home. The wife's family lands in Chennai a few hours later. The flight delay has caused a bit of confusion and they are finally picked up by my dad and uncle. In the meantime, we're both fulfilling our obligations to our elders by visiting my paternal and maternal grandparents.

Feb 2nd night - We meet wife's family for a nice cosy dinner at the Boat Club, Adyar.

Feb 3rd evening - It is the reception thrown by my parents at the Tag Center, Alwarpet. We're both sitting ducks to flashing lights and cameras while people go about their business, hob nob and have fun in general without caring 2 hoots about the victims on stage.

Feb 3rd night - Yes, its time to pack up. Have an Air India Flight at 4AM the next day. That leaves me 2 hours to come home, gather my stuff, pick up the wife from Boat Club and reach Chennai airport.

Feb 4th morning - Stop over at Mumbai to transfer to the Chicago flight. We're both walking zombies. Don't know what hit us!

Feb 4th 6:30PM CST in Chicago - Its friggin' cold, a temperature drop of almost 50C or 95F whichever turns you on. We are left to fend for ourselves as our normally loyal friends ditch us to watch the Superbowl. Catch a cab and reach home on our own. Funkaboy is at home to welcome us. He makes the wife kick a glass of rice as is customary and I lift her an inch over the threshold. Wife is thrilled when the Chicago Bears finally lose. I would've been shocked if the result had been anything else after the varied curses she unloads on them.

Feb 5th morning - Can you believe it? We both have got to go to work. The last 3 weeks feel like a dream. Normality resumes. This sucks!

I'm back. And I'm married!

Yes, I've finally moved on to the darker side. I've lost the premier bachelor status, not that I've ever been a Casanova! The Tamil Brahmin - Sindhi from Gujjuland wedding went without a hitch. Some would even say it was a blast. And despite the language and cultural differences, both sides got along famously. There's a lot to report and too much jetlag right now to do justice to this experience of a lifetime. So over the next few days, I'll try to cover as much of the last 3 weeks as possible. Let me see if I can pull in some guest columns as well from a few Chicago friends who actually came all the way to attend our wedding. Would be nice to get a few different points of view, don't you think? And ofcourse, the good ol' wife has been keeping a diary of various events, so let's see if we can get her to talk about her ordeal and how she's going to deal with the fact that she's stuck to me for the rest of her life.

Let the good times roll... zzzzzz!!!