after all the calls, train / plane reservations, last minute changes- the much awaited date arrived- Papa, mom and myself boarded the Rajdhani express from Sealdah to Kanpur on 16th July for the BIGG Family reunion - our maternal side of family ! Milin was to fly a day later as due to last minute suprises ( well i guess anticipated- we did not have a caretaker for our paternal grandfather who is now 95 years old ) .
The idea of a BIG family reunion germinated in my Nani's mind basically due to some sudden demises in the family and ill health of senior members and also that all the family members are in India now ( basically as yours only was also back from US ) . It posed as an opportunity for all of us - a growing family of 21 members to meet , some of us met after close to 12 years or so.. so it was a jolly happy occassion - albeit certain mishaps eveything went very well !!
Venue: Lucknow- good old 3 BN Road, Kaiserbagh
Participants - City wise-
Lucknow - Nanaji, Naniji, Bade Mamaji, Badi Mamiji, Rajit and Shilpi
Gurgaon Junta- Chote Mamaji, Mamiji, Sunanda and Samarth
Delhi - Rachika, Shalabh and Chota Ishaan ( 2 yr old cute nephew )
Ghaziabad- Didi, Jijai, Reetika and Vishakha
Calcutta- Mom , Dad, Milin and self
21 members in all.
The drive from Kanpur to Lucknow was not so eventful- a stopover at a dhaba mid highway for tea and biscuits... .. BUT seriously the damn flies of UP - persistent, irritating creatures which refuse to fly!!
Agenda for 17th July - Saturday - basically meet and greet, reunite with ones we had not met in a longtime, the best lunch ever and my fave - Kadi and Chawal , with Bhindi ki sabzi thrown in esp for me.. my Nani is the bestest .. she knows exactly what everyone likes and thankfully we have all grown up having pretty similar tastes and liking for simple home cooked meal - with bhuuna aloo, which is a staple in our meals...
In the evening - we all got decked up after a good round of chilli vodkas, kababs ( for non veg ) and pakodas ( for veg ) .. how my mouth was salivating at the sight of tunde kababs, famous lucknowi shekhawat kababs, galouti kababs... but well.. true test of my will power and i did NOT give in!!
The agenda for the evening - was the BIG .. Elaborate Photo shoot .. which was organised at Bade Mamaji/ Rajit's office premises.. ! it was a great family event .. which i guess went on for close to 2-3 hrs.. where we posed, smiled.. and sweat in loads as well... ! The torment was over finally.. and we all left for the dinner outing ! Venue was Ultraviolet - which i am given to understand by my cousin is one of the hotspots of Lucknow now... ! So we were all on this looooooong table set up for us - accomodating all 21 of us, headed by dear Nanaji... not much left to imagination - not much flow of conversation happened from one end of the table to the other but we managed.. and also managed to antagonise the family in the neighbouring table... not feeling too sorry for them... a loud grouop of 21 ppl CANNOT be controlled ... too bad for them! we had a gala time feasting on all sorts of mughlai delicacies... ! yum... ! nuff said- we were TIRED and retured back home... to settle for the night.. all the young junta left for Rajit's house in Gomtinagar ( aberration- which is a dream house btw - truly the kind of house an architect should build and call it home !! ) .
Due to my irritating cold and fever ,stayed back with the elders and well cherished those hours spent with them chatting and catching up more than I could have with my near and dear cousins!
the chat sessions went on till wee hours into the night - where in the angaan- nanaji, naniji, chote mama, bade mama, both mamis, mom, dad and me.. were busy doing - what is famously called in UP -" CHAKKALASBAAJI " - basically everyone sitting around the dinner table - pulling each others leg, old encounters being retold, family stories revisited- whole lot of fun and laughs... !
Next Day - Sunday - was the outing to our farmhouse which is in Narauna, about 40 min away from Kaiserbagh - which basically used to be land in which my grandfather used to have "ETTO ki BHATTI " - brick factory - which is long gone - but we have a one storeyed building there in the midst of huge farmland where we have mango trees, sugarcane,other fruit and vegetable trees- did not venture even there to fathom it all . BUT the main attraction remains- the swimming Pool... ! our usual routine used to be step out of the car and dive into the pool- and we maintained that tradition... :) but this time around.. not everything can go as smooth as it had been ... - the boys decided to pay cricket .. and that too with the hard ball-the red one- not sure what its called- and not the tennis variety.. my dear chote mamaji - in his ever enthusiastic style- trying to avoid a fast ball thrown by shalabh - lost his balance and fell on his left hand.. ! his arm was swiollen and he his pain was excruciating and was immediatelty rushed to the hospital- lo and behold - he had a fracture in his left hand- bummer.. ! but he is the most sporting person i have ever come across.. he returned back with a plaster in his hand and was ready to swing some tequila shots with us !!1 love u mama... !
so apart from all the drama, the kids and elders alike had loads of fun in the pool.. we are treated as royalty there - with the caretakers bringing constant parade of food- so we had baked aloo ( which is again a UP delicacy - where the aloo is basically baked for long in the very rural chulha ) - had it with mint coriander chutney and no other snack can come close to that ever ! we had pakodas, omelettes, sandwiches- with a good amount of vodka, beer , tequila shots to drown it all.. ! by afternoon - we were all pretty happy and merry - having managed to pull choti mami also in the pool. i like the new bar counter - the new additon to the ever beautifully designed and constucted farmhouse.. It came with a nice cosy hidden space - for those who wanted to have a quick smoke !! fun fun fun... but well not all good things last for long- papa had a fall on the stairs after changing - so that was another downer - he is still recuperating - but thankfully no fracture this time !
all wells that ends welll... Chote mama, bade mamaji joined us after the plaster .. and well we enjoyed rest of the evening there and thankfully - the weather turned around and it started drizzling - and it was pure bliss.. ! no body wanted to leave... !
however , after the very hectic day - everyone retired for the evening - and no one had any energy left to gather together for dinner.. ! we had a quiet dinner at nani's place - of arhar dal, chawal and Bhindi ofcourse ! :)
Monday was a quiet day - as everyone started departing for their respective places- rachika left , didi et all left, mom left in the evening for agra, milin left on sunday evening itself, dad and myself had to change our return plans - as he was still in pain and we returned on tuesday evening!
had a bad bad case of food poisoining on return- guess stomach could not take in the assault of food, drinks and what not these last 4 days... !
Alls well that end well! This occassion - brought us all together - some estranged members got closer, and the resolution now is that - we will continue this tradition and hopefully all of us will get together once every year!
smiles!
No comments:
Post a Comment