Irani Chai and Filter Coffee

Coorg

2010-04-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

Although we are more than two months late, here are some pictures from our trip to Coorg.We stayed in Crimson Eye, a homestay in Madikeri, Coorg. It's a gorgeous old house with a lovely view of the hills, a sprawling garden, full of colourful blooms, and ummm .... even some snakes :)

A lovely garden and a macro lens meant long afternoons spent shooting flowers. Of course the crawling on all fours shooting macros ended the moment we spotted our first slithery friend :P

Since Coorg was uncharacteristically warm, cold beverages were the order of the day...and night :)

Besides the usual touristy sightseeing, our trip was full of walks into the town for shopping and for coffee and tea at a tiny Udipi Hotel, picnic lunches in the garden, freaking out over snakes, explaining to the caretaker what we wanted for our meals, and watching movies on our laptops amidst long and frequent power cuts. We saw some of the most serene and beautiful sunrises and sunsets at the Hotel Valley View, Raja's Seat and Talacauvery:

The highlight of the trip had to be our drive to Mandalpatti, an almost unexplored view point in the middle of nowhere, that felt like it was the top of the world. Accessible only by jeep, it was about an hour away from where we were staying. We cannot describe how it felt to stand up there in the heavy wind that almost knocked us over, warmed by the rising sun.

The beautiful Abbey Falls - shooting long exposures from the rather shaky, makeshift bridge overlooking the falls:

The Dubare Elephant Training Camp - as mentioned, it was hot enough to make us envy the elephants as they lounged in the cool water:

Coffee berries that Filter Coffee tried to bite off:

After the hectic months leading up to the wedding, Coorg was a great place to relax, unwind and put our feet up.

Mrs Iyer and Mrs Iyengar

2010-03-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

At the end of the wedding, when all the rituals were done, mom and I remembered that we were yet to take the Left-Right picture that we had been planning all along. I am an Iyer and Ashwin is an Iyengar. So mom wore her madisar (9-yards sari) the Iyer way, and I wore it the Iyengar way. The pallus go on opposite sides in the two styles. So here we are, with our make up smudged, hair dishevelled, jewellery taken off and saris crumpled - it is one of my favourite pictures from the wedding :)

PS: We made the images on the blog bigger yaaay :)

We are back!

2010-02-24T02:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a loooong while since we posted any updates on this blog. We've had very little time following the wedding, since we've been doing a lot of traveling. While there has been quite a bit happening, here are a few updates:

* The wedding went off awesomely! To add drama, there was a bandh in Hyderabad on the day of the wedding! Filter Coffee's entourage was accompanied by an Army van to deter protesters :))

* Filter Coffee ate at a wedding for the FIRST time ever! Stuff from his worst nightmares were fed to him, and Irani Chai was beyond pleased:P

* Another reception at Madras followed the hectic wedding week. By the time we arrived at the venue, there were over 100 hungry guests waiting to meet us, and more importantly, their dinner :P

* Coorg was quite warm, much to our disappointment. But the clear weather made for great photography, much to our delight :) Snakes (including one cobra) crawling around us in power cut induced darkness made the stay even more interesting :))

* Sunrise at Kovalam marked our first month together. Again, friendly skies made for great pics.

Wedding pics - approx 2500
Coorg pics - approx 2000
All other pics - approx 500

Obviously, we have a whole lot of reviewing and sorting to do, but here are a few from the wedding to get us started. These were shot by the official photographer for the wedding.

A smile and a laugh at the reception:

Filter Coffee hard at work :))

Giving away the bride - Kanyadhaan
THE moment :)

Exchanging rings:
Filter Coffee and Irani Chai :)
The wedding is behind us, but Irani Chai and Filter Coffee is far from over :P
We'll continue to update this blog with random stuff that we do together, especially the photographs we take:)

Mehendi :)

2010-01-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

Yaaaaay my mehendi is done- I had to get my little sister to shoot pictures of my hands. The colour on the wrists is just not satisfactory, so Najma is trying some tricks of the trade, like holding my hands over smoke from burning cloves. I hope it works and the colour darkens :) If it doesn't, it just means Ashwin is going to be a really evil husband :P

Battleplan

2010-01-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Terrible as I am at planning, its essential to have someone who can do a better job at organizing.

I am glad that its in the safe hands of Sister and BIL who handle the entire nitty gritty details - from receiving people, catering to their unique requirements to the inevitable last minute shopping.

The battleplan takes center stage at their home:

Alright - looks like this will be the last post (atleast from me) before the wedding. Its almost time for that last minute shopping now - ciao :)

Sole-mates

2010-01-17T04:11:00.000-08:00

I've always loved flat footwear ....but after loads of comments about how I need to get high heels and how we make an amitabh and jaya jaisi jodi, I've been spending a lot of time stocking up on high-heeled shoes :)

Ashwin is on the train to Hyderabad, and I can't wait for him to get here :)

Off to get married!!

2010-01-17T01:10:00.000-08:00

...and so it begins :)

* Suit - check

* Clothes - check

* Rings - check

* Camera(s) - check

* This is turning out to be a list :P

I give up - bet there are a 100 things I dont remember - ready or not - here I go!!! :D

Nervous ? Yes - muchos, woke up today with a sense of "things will never be the same again". But cant wait for 21st Jan 2010 :)

Band Bhajao!

2010-01-08T02:24:00.000-08:00

Dramatic music tadaaa... et all :

* we wanted really simple rings - so a no fuss design which doesn't jump out at you (did she really pick this?!!! - what is with her?)

* mine fits - but not sure if Madhu's will - we had her's sized in Hyderabad :P

Mulling if I need to add video with more pics - but no time for all that now - less than 2 weeks to go!!!!!

Toe Rings

2010-01-07T02:02:00.000-08:00

Finally some jewelery that I won't mind wearing even after the wedding - two pairs of silver toe rings :) These were gifted to me by my mama - that's the custom. I don't want to google the symbolism behind wearing toe rings; something tells me the feminist in me won't exactly love the explanation :)

Invitations - Redux

2009-12-25T00:47:00.000-08:00

We finally have invitations non-cryptologists can read!!! Don't want to flood the page with images - so here is a video of the photographs :

These are from Madhu's invitation though it also includes a proof of mine (which was not read of course). Whats interesting is Madhu's card is a sober white - mine is well... a garish purple and gold .... Strange :P

But of course, it cant be entirely a sober white - that just cant be Irani Chai - so there is a teaser of Hyderabadi bling - check out the sparklers on the edges:

The highlight of the pics for me is good old Ambedkar staring down and for a change he is not pointing the finger - cant recognize him at all :P

PS: my bad - thats not Ambedkar - its Homi Bhaba :P

Lists Lists Lists

2009-12-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

* Lists of people to invite

* Lists of people who will actually come

* Menu list

* List of stuff to buy

* List of things to-do

* Gah - did I make a list here!!!

I am not a list person, I'd rather sit and shoot pics :P

PS: or browse online for suit colours.

Shoppinggggggggg!!

2009-12-19T10:24:00.001-08:00

Getting married means shoppinggggggg! Lots and lots of it!

Shopping for clothes, accessories and shoes, making countless trips to several tailors, and then some more for alterations, spending hours trying to decide what fabric and colour will work best for lining a totally unimportant dress that hardly anyone will get to see, arguing over what outfit to wear for which event - it is a lot of hard work, but sooooo much fun :)

And while some people are working super-hard on shopping, there are others who don't budge from their chair - instead, they pretend to check out suit colours on the internet :|

Invitations

2009-12-09T18:06:00.001-08:00

- are gaudy as can be, in a pink and yellow worthy of a TRS event

- are in chaste Tamil, fully understood by only about 100 people, none of whom actually receive the invitation

- are for the wedding of Mangala and Narasimhan!! Real names are reduced to an alias because they are not "traditional"

- will contain mistakes even when proof-read. The first version had a typo in the name and wrong address - which pretty much is ALL that you can proof read.

This is the limited edition traditional Tamil invitation, as for the English version - will post it soon as its printed - behind the clock as usual!

Jab We Met

2009-12-06T05:16:00.000-08:00

Filter Coffee on Irani Chai- the Iyer begum, the dork who is bollywood's raison d'etre, patiala clad madisaar lover, jewelry hating trinket junkie, slow driver on a fast lane, gluttonous health freak, laad bazar loving mall rat, tan hating road rover, chai loving coffee drinker - swinging between contradictions she is perfect. My Hyderabadi Love.

Irani Chai on Filter Coffee- Self appointed photography guru to innocent, unsuspecting girls. Bratty Iyengar paiyyan. Coffee freak. Ocean lover. Madras rowdie. Master of bad pun. Smile spreader. Impatient brat who patiently tolerates Bollywood-style melodrama and temper tantrums. Nicest, sweetest, funnest guy on the planet. My bestest friend ever.

What could possibly bring these apparently immiscible liquids together? Grab your favourite drink and read on...

It all begins at Caf e Flickr. The battleground for many wars between Chai and Coffee zealots, also brings them to the same table. What happens next? Will they tear into each other like sworn enemies do? Will there be bloodshed? Will they splash and stain each other's sunday bests? Does this end in a bitter beverage nobody can swallow? Naaah. Chai serves up some Veggie Delights on the table. Coffee, food hater that he is, has nothing nice to say about the food, but chooses to offer uhh...insightful tips on the photography. Chai, shocked by this unexpected show of generosity from an obvious enemy camper, decides to find the ulterior motive behind this very suspicious gesture, with a humble request for more advice from someone who calls himself knowsnotmuch. Now Coffee, ever the knight in shining armour, cannot bear to turn away from a damsel in distress, even if she is Chai, and annoints himself Guruji and floods her with completely unnecessary information.

Now Photography is an intricate art not learnt easily, Chai is dyslexic and Coffee - well, he knowsnotmuch - so he suggests Chai join photowalks for hands on training. As Chai's never ending tutelage continues, Coffee charts a trip to Chai's hometown, and Chai, eager to dish out some gyaan of her own, proclaims herself Coffee's local tour guide, offers insights on all things Hyderabadi including food, jewellery and shopping, and even escorts Coffee around the town. What follows is a long distance relationship, well and truly beyond photography, of which the major beneficiaries are Airtel and BSNL.

To cut a long story short, several long online sessions, photowalks, thousands of text messages, hours and hours on the phone later, Chai and Coffee clink their cuppas and get ready to embark together on everything beautiful life has brewing for them.

Curious about what happens next with Chai and Coffee? For starters, we have a wedding coming up on January 21st, 2010. Watch us grapple with invitations, shopping, ceremonies, and everything else which goes into the cliched big fat indian wedding.