One fine cloudy day in Lincolnshire, IL. Sitting in the hotel lobby aimlessly browsing the net, JK sees this cute couple walk to a table next to him and start chatting. Cupid shot his arrow on him! and he decided to focus his aimless browsing to targeted browsing (matrimony site). Guess what! he found Meena!
Ok! we know you don't buy this but that's the fact!
Just like in consulting, it's good to start the interaction with a neutral person. In JK's case it was Meena's sister. Starting a conversation was never a problem as she was very bubbly! End of the call, he got Meena's email. :)
Here comes the first question from Meena, "Why a malayali gal!".
Hmmm... this ones not to be answered here! ;) Anyway, a fair question from her, a partially diplomatic answer, and a couple of more mail exchanges. Post this we decided to upgrade from emails to chat to calls. I know this was a little slow but hey! I was on a project and needed this buffer.
The news about more extension to the project was getting JK a lil nervous as he was keen on meeting Meena. Project was getting a little tight but he still managed to keep some time free (while at client's office). Got to know Meena is not the lappy person. Unlike JK who can't live without one.
Here comes the interesting part! First, it took me a while to figure out there was a problem with the 'n' key in her lappy. Second, she was using shorthand! :O When someone who is not well conversant with online chat uses shorthand, every line is a puzzle to be solved ;)
Project completed successfully and JK returns from US of A! First task was to return the pre-historic junk (laptop) JK's company had given to him for the project. A week later he booked a flight to Kochi. Thanks to Jet Airways for all the air miles and Priority Rewards for the points for my stay in Holiday Inn, Kochi.
It was a Friday... Bright, sunny and humid day! JK landed in Kochi airport around noon and travelled another 30Kms to the place where he was going to meet Meena. After JK's repeated reminders she decided to take the 2nd half of the day off. Thank God! she did. (Psst! yes, she is a lil' workaholic)
While waiting in the lobby she came over with her best friend (Aishu). Actually her entry was a little unique ;) hiding behind her friend and looking at me. The first thing that came to my mind was a cat hiding behind someone and observing before making any move. Then we had lunch, followed by a peaceful chat as we were the only ones there.
The non-gadget friendly starts to embrace technology. Thanks to her friend Siji for introducing her to WhatsApp! Life was much easier and faster.
Ok! Long story short...
More visits! More calls! More chats! Getting to know each other better. It was fun!
We decide to start breaking the news slowly to friends and colleages. Plan to design this website kicks in. JK was keen on ditching Flash for HTML5. Falls in love with it after reading an article about it on Mashable.com and starts to explore!
A promise to marry... The period of time between proposal & marriage. The special day when we make things official to the world. (SoW signed)
Venue: Puzhakarakavu Devi Temple
Date : 21st October, 2012 @11:47am
The ceremony where two people are united in marriage. We decided to do this the Mallu style! Short and Sweet one. Btw, blame the astrologer for picking a weekday. I had no control on this.
Venue: Vinayaka Caterers & Kalyana Mandapam
Sannidhi Road, Kadavanthra
Cochin 682 020
Date : 15th November, 2012 @11:45am to 12:15pm
Nagercoil being my native place, the first official reception happens to be here.
Venue: Udipi International Hotel
Near Vadasery Bus Stand, Vadasery, Nagercoil 629 001
Date : 18th November, 2012 @6:00pm to 8:30pm
Exclusively for friends and colleagues! So those who could not make it to Kochi or Nagercoil, strictly no excuses!
Venue: Atria Hotel
1, Palace Road, Bangalore - 560 001.
Date : 8th December, 2012 @7pm to 9:30pm