A Trip to Hindustan Ka Dil….

I’ve heard so much about the state of Madhya Pradesh – about its beauty, culture, people etc. But got a chance to go there recently during my friend’s wedding.

My friend’s wedding took place at Jabalpur. This city is situated right in the center of India surrounded by rocky terrains and hillocks. Our journey to the city was quite exciting.

Day 1 – 24th December, 2009:

My friends and I were traveling together from Mumbai. Our train’s scheduled departure was 11.30 pm from Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) on 24th December 2009. I was quite excited as I was going by train after a long long time. We had decided to meet directly at the station. Five of us were traveling together – Myself, Ashi, Isha, Deepak and Rohit. I reached the station at 10.30 pm. I thought I’d reached too early and I was thinking of options to kill time. Exactly at that time, Isha called me and told me that She and Ashi are in the waiting room on the first floor and our train has been rescheduled to 4.30 am. In the beginning I thought these guys are playing some prank but when I checked on the board where they display the train nos, time and platform I came to know that it has actually been rescheduled to 4.30 am. So I proceeded to the waiting room. Ashi and Isha were looking so tired and bored. I also joined their clubJ. As we were contemplating what to do next, our friend Deepak arrived. He was looking as excited as always. Thanks to him, we all got in to happy mood. We were joking around, then I remembered that Rohit had told me that he would board the train from Dadar. So I called him up and told him about the delay of the train. So he also decided to join us at CST. After sometime Rohit also landed in CST waiting room. We discussed all possible topics – college days, politics, Law, Weddings, Life etc…

Day 2 – 25th December, 2009:

Somehow we passed our time and it was time to board the train. We boarded the train and as soon as the train started and we were provided with the blankets and pillows we all collapsedJ. Deepak, Ashita and I hardly slept. We woke up in 3 hours of sleep and started chatting. Isha was fast asleep and Rohit had 2nd ac ticket so needless to tell :P.
Soon it became afternoon and by that time both Rohit and Isha were up. We were singing songs, playing games, chatting, eating. Its fun to be with friends, one doesn’t realize how the time just flies. We kept updating Shruti as to where we’ve reached. Finally it was time for Jabalpur to come and we all eagerly waited at the door to meet Shruti. The train reached Jabalpur and we were received by Shruti and her dad. We reached her home. It was a beautiful house. Since it was Christmas time there was a Christmas tree also. We freshened up and had the awesome Biryani made by aunty and also had all Christmas goodiesJ. Since it was winter time, it was cold at night, we all sat near the fireplace and had hot cup of tea. It was an amazing experience. As I’m from Chennai where winter can never be experienced I enjoyed Jabalpur’s winter thoroughly.
Day 3 – 26th December, 2009:

This was a fantastic day. We all woke up and went to the garden of the house and had tea. Aunty’s garden is the best in the house. There were varieties of flowers and to add to the beauty, there was a fish tank with so many colourful fish. It was an awesome view. Then we all got ready and pushed off for sight seeing. Firstly we went to a waterfall called ‘Dhuandhar’. It was absolutely beautiful. We as usual posed for photos there, went to the other side of that place and traveled on winch from one end of the hill to the other. We could see the waterfall from above and it was too good. After this, we did some shopping there and pushed off another famous place ‘Bedaghat’. It was made of all marble rocks. We went for boating in the Narmada River and got to see different types and colours of marbles. It was breath taking. The best part about this boating was the commentary given by the boatman. After this, we did major shopping and decided to go back home after lunch. The lunch was the best part. We were all craving to have food in a dhaba. We stopped our car in a shabby dhabaJ and ordered so many things to eat. The food was awesome and so tasty that we couldn’t help but lick our fingers ;). After this sumptuous lunch we headed towards home. When we reached home, all the local friends of Shruti had come. We all did masti, played cards, danced, put mehndi and the day thus got over with the same enthusiasm as it’d started.

Day 4 – 27th December, 2009:

It was a memorable day. One of Shruti’s family friends (Rajni aunty) had come from Delhi. She is very good at decorating the church and the marriage hall. So we all helped her in the decoration. This was the first wedding where I was involved in decoration of marriage hall. Learnt so many things from her. It almost took us till the evening to decorate the hall and the church decoration was remaining. But in the evening the groom’s side had come down for dinner. They started with haldi for Shruti, then we all danced and had fun. After this, we all had dinner and all of us had this craving for ‘Pani Puri’ so we pulled along Shruti’s brother with us and had Pani Puri and other chaat items. Thus the day ended by fulfilling our craving for Pani PuriJ.

Day 5 – 28th December, 2009:

The most important day of our journey had arrived. Yes it was the wedding dayJ. We were all supposed to wake up at 5am to help Rajni aunty decorate the church. But as usual we were all sleeping away to gloryJ. Only Deepak woke up and went with aunty and helped her. When we woke up it was 8 am. Ashita and I rushed to the church. When we went there, the decoration was almost getting over. We helped them with last few things and came back home. At 12.30 pm Shruti had to be taken to the beauty parlour for her bridal make-up. I accompanied her and we were ready by 2pm. The Bridesmaids and flower girls were all ready by 3pm. The photographer arrived and clicked few awesome pics post which we’d a prayer and proceeded to the church for the wedding. The wedding went on very well. There was happiness all around. What a memorable moment it was for all of us. The wedding was followed by a reception at the hall.

At the reception, there was so much fun, bouquet throwing, singing, dancing etc. We thoroughly enjoyed all this, had our dinner and Deepak and I’d a train back to Mumbai at 11.30pm. We rushed to the station with the mood of not going back after all this wonderful times. But life has to move on. We boarded the train and slept off.


Day 6 – 29th December, 2009:

This day was not a very happening. We’d a boring train journey with no pantry, no proper food and boring co-passengers. We somehow passed our time by discussing the wedding masti. At 4pm we reached Mumbai and we told bye to each other and headed back to our own places.

This has been one of the best weddings I’ve attended. Simple, yet grand, so beautifully planned one. This will be a memorable trip for all of us. After this wedding, Deepak, Isha, Ashita, Rohit and I’ve become very good friends that we’ve started keeping touch regularly through mails during tiring office hoursJ.