The weather’s pretty pleasant here. Especially during the day. It gets cool in the night. If it wasn’t for the tension in the city, it would have been perfect.

Attended the first wedding. How did you meet your wife, I asked my about-to-be-married cousin the day he was getting married.

Cyber love, he replied. Apparently, they met in a chat room. Met under the Chandmari flyover. And that was the end of his bachelorhood. A couple of years later he’s tying the knot.

It’s always nice to hear these stories.

The wedding started at 9.30 p.m. and went on to the wee hours of the morning. By the time everything was done it was about 4 a.m. Most Assamese weddings are held during the period between midnight and dawn.

The different ceremonies are spread over 5 days in this particular wedding. Three actually, but two are inauspicious so those two days are for rest! The juroon (a mostly women’s affair, where the bride gets lots of goodies from the groom’s mother), the actual wedding ceremony with the fire, and then the reception, which is tomorrow.

Hopefully, I will be able to write an Assamese wedding diary one of these days. With lots of pictures. Not today. I have about 2 more minutes before I have to scoot.

Though, cyber cafes have sprung up in many corners in the city now, I still haven’t found one located at a convenient distance from my place.

Am planning to do a quick trip the Kaziranga National Park. The last time I saw it was about two decades ago. It’s time to go in search of a rhino, I reckon!

The general scenario today. I usually remember a whole list of things to do just before I leave for somewhere and then there’s this terrible rush to get everything done.

Thanks Vineeth for the pointers to Hyderabad. I’m really looking forward to it. Especially the Hussain Sagar lake and the parasailing.

I wish I had more time in Calcutta too. Hopefully, Melodrama will drop by sometime and give me a few helpful hints…

Going home to Guwahati for a while. And then to Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad and back to Mumbai mid-December.

I leave for Calcutta on the 17th evening by train. With the Biharis attacking this mode of travel, I am only too glad that the train doesn’t pass through much of the state. I haven’t travelled by this train before but a friend assured me it goes through Jharkand, so there’s some consolation. And besides (on an optmistic note) let’s hope they’re too occupied with the cricket finals on the 18th.

I will be in Calcutta for half a day on the 3rd of December on the way back, and am hoping to do some sightseeing. I’m thinking of staying at the Lytton Hotel, which seems pretty decent. If anyone (especially Kolkatians, or whatever natives of the city are called) have any ideas as to how to spend a fruitful afternoon and evening (besides going to Victoria Memorial) then please do tell. The last time I stopped over in Cal in April, most of my time went in trying to get my train tickets organised. Hopefully, this time will be more peaceful (and cooler!). I definitely don’t like Cal in summer.

I booked my train ticket up to Calcutta using the online reservation system and was pleasantly surprised when I got the ticket delivered the next day. Wonders never cease.

From the 4th to the 12th, I will be in Bangalore. Mainly for work, but hopefully mixed with some pleasure. I had heaps of fun the last time I was there. This time, I might do some more sightseeing. Not to forget Gangarams. I didn’t have enough the last time. But I am definitely not going back to TGIF again!

From Bangalore, I leave for Hyderabad on the 13th morning. I’ve never actually seen this city (but have heard so much about it) so hopefully the friend who will be hosting me will do the needful. At the risk of sounding very ignorant, I have no idea what they have in Hyderabad, except the Charminar. So there, if you Hyderbadians have any interesting ideas, you know what to do. I have three days there.

Back in Mumbai on the 16th of December. And the end of another year. Already?

No cable connection yet (and it’s quite nice without it, actually). So besides watching heaps of movies and one television show (Leela, Breakfast at Tiffanys, The Story of Us, Bhoot, Love Story, Friends Season 9), I’ve been indulging in my other favourite hobby. Painting. The first one is from an old card I found. The other one is from a calendar. Both done in acrylic colours.

Nidhi, the painting I’m supposed to give you is still in the pipeline :)

I would love to be able to participate in this event.

But I am somewhat embarassed to admit that I can’t run.

I can walk. A few kilometres. More than a few on an exceptionally fit day.

But running is something I have never been able to figure out.

That’s why I can’t be a part of the Mumbai marathon.

But I will be there cheering from the sidelines, if any of you blogger folk decide to participate. The dream run (7 kms) should be possible for some of you young people (my old bones are creaking at the sound of that number!). Time for you to get out of your chairs and start posting some kilometres, instead of angst-filled entries. What about getting together and doing something physical for a change?

I don’t personally know anyone who can run the marathon. Except a certain Kiruba Shankar in Chennai, who I know can run a mean marathon.

So , Kiruba, are you packing your bags and coming for this one? We’ll be cheering for you if do. And you’ve got yourself two months to prepare. What say?

Kit Kit’s been reading my Harry Potter and the newspaper. She doesn’t seem too impressed though!

It’s been a while since I updated the Indian Bloggers List. So for all those who submitted a while ago, a million apologies. The latest entries:

Pallavi, Bangalore
Aravind, Calcutta
Siddharth, somewhere between Colorado and Pune.
Chand
V Subhash, Mumbai
Venkatachalam Ramakrishnan, Lucknow
Gaurav, Hyderabad
Sathish, Chennai
Abhi Tripathi, LA
Manish, San Fransisco
Bala Pitchandi
Elaichi
Arun Kumar, San Diego
Rajan
Sumedh, CA
Debashish Chakrabarty (new address)
Kumar Mettu
Vasanth, Belgium
Alex, Ohio
ChandraChoodan, Bangalore
Anant, Bangalore
Sushubh, Faridabad
Samrat, Delhi
Ganesh
Abhimanyu, Hyderabad
Deepak, Bangalore
Sagar, Philippines
Kush, USA
Kaa, Mumbai
Shrini, Mumbai
Ridhish, Canberra, Australia
Quizman
Amit, Chennai
Muthu, Chennai
Uma
Arun, Raleigh, NC, USA
Obscure
Rajiv, Bangalore
Manish, Pune
Kumaraguru, Chennai
Harshad, San Diego, USA
Amit (Europe travelogue)
Navneet Nair, Mumbai
Reuben Abraham, New York City

Loki had emailed me a while back asking if I knew of any Sri Lankan blogs. I haven’t really come across any, but if you have, do drop her a line.