Wedding - When is the Big Day?

Drinks at Taj with Kash 

Camembert Dariole Soufflé 

Pomfret 

Tiger Shrimp

Chocolate Mousse

Spun Sugar

Note written on leaf, on our bed

Again we had breakfast on outside on our patio, as we watched the sun rise. Do we ever have to checkout? Every once you read about some one who lives an extended stay in a luxury hotel. Warren Beatty lived for years at The Beverly Wilshire. I can understand why! Unfortunately this is our penultimate day at the Taj before starting our long journey home. The Taj is the place for us. They clearly know us from our many stays and always strive to make each visit more memorable than the last.

We were picked up by Kash’s driver and driven towards North Mumbai to Juhu, a very upscale beach community where we met Kashmera for a buffet lunch at the Marriot. The drive thru Bandra is charming. Bandra was an old Portuguese fishing village: it has narrow winding tree-line streets. There are lots of old mansions and houses. Many movie actors live in Bandra from Shah Rukh Khan to Salman Khan, to Aamir Khan, in fact, if your name is Khan you must live in Bandra.

The Marriot will be the focal point of the wedding when it happens in late April, May or early June. The great drama of the moment is trying to fix the date. No such simple task as in America – happy couple picks a date and gets married. In India there are major considerations in fixing a day. It must be an auspicious day, it can’t be a fast day (Monday), it can’t be a vegetable day (Tuesday), it can’t be an day with an unlucky number, it can’t be in the month you were born, it can’t be in the month when another family member, no matter how distant is getting married, it best not be in a very hot month, even worse it shouldn’t be during Monsoon season. It is great if it is on your aunt’s birthday. It is desirable to be when airline tickets are off-peak. The Pandit-ji must decide from horoscope ranges of days that are potential for the marriage. It must be close enough to the engagement that the groom doesn’t have a chance to change his mind. The multiple wedding venues desired must not be booked. It can’t be on a national holiday when you can’t drink. Forget Gandhi’s birthday can’t get married then. Eventually a day will be set for Kash and Krushna’s wedding and we will be in attendance and participating.

In anticipation of that fine day - actually 5 days of events plus some built in hangover days this will be a Punjabi flavored Bollywood wedding after all– party till you drop; we continued our shopping for wedding outfits. We will be featured guests and that creates a major problem. Cathy and I will be required to perform a Bollywood dance number in front of 500 guests. Cliff is not noted for his dancing skills. We will have to come to India about 5 days before the wedding to start dance rehearsals! Kashmera’s choreographer will work with us daily to learn our Bollywood dance. Actually as much as the thought of learning the dance frightens me, the idea of actually being able to perform a Bollywood Dance no matter how clunky it will be brings smiles to my face. If we can pull it off, it will be great, if we fail, they can say they booked us as the comedy act. The saving grace is that all 500 people will hopefully be drunk before we perform our dance.

We went from store to store looking at clothes for the wedding, Kashmera usually has a body guard in public but she slipped him and I was the stand in, as people recognized her. Cathy chose a 2^nd Sari and I a white dhoti, shirt and vest with Blue accents. Not my usual jeans for this series of events.

We returned to the Taj in early evening so that Cathy and I could have our fittings for the clothes we had made to order. They took adjusts to one of my suits and assured me the other will get the exact same modifications. Both will be delivered tomorrow. Cathy’s sari looked great and she needed only modest adjustments to her top.

By then we were ready for drinks by the pool. It was a beautiful night, and being outside in the tropical air, warm with just a touch of humidity was a delight. The multiple gin and tonics definitely added to the enjoyment.

We had an exceptional dinner at the Zodiac Grill at the Taj. Cathy and I had never before eaten at the Zodiac, for Kash it brought back memories of previous dinners she had experienced there. This was white glove service of the highest order. Piano playing softly in the corner, waiters in tuxes, free flowing Champaign, witty conversation with the maître d, great breads and all the while we were casually dressed in jeans and sandals. In the movie version I would have been in a Tux looking like Cary Grant. Instead I am in the real life version looking like Woody Allen. Tuesday is a veg day for Kash. The most famous dish on the menu is an appetizer: Camembert Dariole. It is a small extremely rich and light Camembert soufflé in a delicious sauce. This is one of those last meal request kind of dishes. Or perhaps it is so rich it will be our last meal. I had Shrimp, Cathy Pomfret. The meal was topped off with a chocolate mousse and candies. Then they once again the Taj blew our minds. They brought out a giant magical puff of spun sugar. Maybe 65 years ago, when I was a child we use to go to Euclid Beach in Cleveland, Ohio and I would always have spun sugar, I haven’t had it since. The taste brought back to me all the memories from so long ago. Why in Mumbai it was served to us I don’t know, but I am glad it was. We staggered up to our hotel room for a nights sleep. On our pillow was a note from the housekeeping staff, written on a leaf. Nice touch!

Kash has planned some memorable events for tomorrow. The basic plan is that we will spend the morning at the hotel, pack then pick up our finished clothing about 2pm and be driven to meet Kash.  Krushna will have returned from a film shoot and is anxious to join us for a rollicking final day. We will have dinner with Kash and Krushna then eventually arrive at the airport about midnight. Our flight leaves for London at 3am. After a layover in London the return flight to the States.