The moment our guitar wielding mate Rohin announced that his brother's wedding was to be held on January 1st, the predictable groans of "Not again" were quite clearly heard. That makes it 2 years in a row where we spent our New Year's day on a freaking formal wedding occasion rather than slumped on the bed suffering from a hangover resulting from a night of extreme partying and boozing that went all the way till the sun came up. Also, that makes it 2 years in a row where we spent New Year's day in Kannur when we would prefer being in a slightly more fun place(mentioning Goa here would be an insult to the place).
But in inviting us, Rohin had inadvertently used his friendship card which apparently trumps everything else in the world. And so the day came when we were heaving our luggage into Vijeesh's brand new GL 350 and headed off for a long drive from Kochi to Kannur, accompanied by ex-crazy driver Dilu, evergreen loudmouth Suthin, the gorgeous producer and consumer of laughing gas Sreeja, dream doctor Irene, dope-mistress Monisha and yours truly. Chicken-man Zubin and the Dutchess of Wipro Jency were heading out later that night with their ETA at about 4 in the morning.
Dealing with traffic was the daunting task for the day, but the man behind the wheel fought well and we managed to arrive with 1 hour to spare till the death of 2011. But whatever we experienced during the drive was instantly wiped out at the sight that Rohin greeted us with...namely, his fantastically awesome crib. I'm not exactly the architecture expert here, so the only technical terms I can use to describe the house are "huge", "magnificent", "trippy" and "majestic". After we were done basking in its glory, we munched, got ready and headed to the front yard just in time for the countdown. The rockstar midget Jazim had also arrived for a cameo appearance. Without any reminiscing in the year that was 2011, we raised our glasses after Rohin popped the champagne open(in some style, I might add) to the new year that was upon us. And boy, that was some fine celebration. We got to be in the company of the groom and the fun family for the night. The rest, as you can imagine, was a blur. But the arrival of Zubin and Jency prompted us to leave the palace with the company of Jerson and head to the hotel for some rest before the big event.
The morning arrived and we proceeded to getting ready, trying to look like the hottest men and women ever to have walked the face of the earth. And we pulled it off, at least a little. We proceeded to the wedding hall in some style, backed up by the Merc. The hall, meanwhile, was as grand as it could get, and the perfect setting for the union of two people in love. We were there to witness it, and we did.
Post wedding, we were on the receiving end of some fine lunch and some photo-shooting. After bidding our goodbyes to the happy couple and the family, we were back in the hotel, but the day was far from over. What ensued was a trip to Thalassery where the travellers consisted of only Zubin, myself and the ladies. The highlights of this trip included a visit to his family's place, a brief meeting with Jazim, ice cream, a lot of traffic, a flat tyre, replacing said flat tyre, an accident with a bus that shaved the paint off the right side of the Swift, Zubin chasing said bus to give the driver a piece of his mind and the ride back to the hotel. Saying that 2012 opened up with an explosion would be an understatement.
But thankfully the tiring day ended on a peaceful note as we did something that was common in all our get-togethers: dinner with friends. Especially with our personal stand up comedian Suthin and the banshee Sreeja, the evening could not cease to entertain. There was plenty to talk about and plenty to laugh about...and it was at this moment that I realised that there was absolutely no need for moaning previously about the prospect of attending a wedding on New Year's. It didn't matter whether we were in Kannur or in Amsterdam, at home or at a David Guetta concert, in the middle of a hailstorm or outside on a sunny cloudless day...we would be laughing our asses off and having a good time no matter what. And for that, I'm forever thankful to Morgan Freem-...I mean God.
After all the goodbyes, Team Kochi headed back and this time Vijeesh showed off his driving skills as we reached home in record time. Although the overnight driving did make us fall asleep throughout. Bit by bit, the members of the gang departed with Monisha and myself being the last to leave, taking our time to taste the city that was my home.
It's true when I say that such get-togethers are numbered now...with each of us being absorbed in our own lives in various places across the world. Thus, the immigrant Calvin, the scientist Merin and the sweetest doctor on the planet Susan were dearly missed. But we aren't 99 yet, so as long as our clocks keep ticking, I say the fun is far from over.
But if somebody dares to get married in January 1st again, I swear to God...
-Vysh
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