ajit a family physician and friend: Parents - in

Yes !! thats exactly what Shami and I are going to be or rather we are already--- officially -- after 11th October. Shami and I have felt pleasantly promoted , suddenly , unexpectedly , after Rahul got engaged to Jean .

After the visit to Hyderabad , we got down to plan the details and the countdown to the 11th of October .We had planned some date between Dasserra [ 9th October ] and Diwali [ starting 26th October ] . 11th Oct was the best date as it was a Saturday and immediately post Dasserra -- so a good attendance was guaranteed. We had a good experience of organising big functions on our own like Rahul's munj -thread ceremony --way back in 1995 , next our own silver anniversary in 2006 , not to forget the numerous birthday parties , family get togethers and my stag parties .

First was the venue . Oh what a relief when the Poolside Oasis of the grand Satkar Residency was available .

I have attended many conferences and functions here and had fallen for this venue.

We got down to the rest of the items once the venue was fixed -- like the guest list , menu , shopping for Jean and her family , booking hotel for their and their guest's stay , shopping for us all , phoning all the invitees to confirm their presence and give sufficient time for them to adjust their plans , booking the decorators , photographer , orders for Barfi trays and pedhas , roses . The mobile came in handy with all the reminders fed in it .

As the day approached we were very much relaxed as every plan was in place .The only fear was of rains --like every year , it had rained regularly during the Navratri Festival , which ends on Dasserra day . On the day of the function it was hot and humid throughout the day . We had reached the venue at 5.30 and we could see clouds building up in the north and moving towards us . By 7.30 winds started blowing but fortunately it did not rain and the atmosphere became pleasant. The event went off smoothly , we had studied the photographs of a recent engagement ceremony of Sachin , Rahul's second cousin , and so we were thorough with the steps of the function .