Thanks for the Blast!

This past Sunday (Dec 28th) we hosted a get together party in Piscataway (NJ), the planning for which started more than a month ago. Datta turned 3 on Dec 23rd while Mahalakshmi turns 1 on Jan 2nd. And then the New Year is just around the corner. We haven't met with many of our old friends and family for quite some time. All in all - we decided to have the party in NJ so the venue will be accessible to people coming from different states in the NE corridor.

Venue: Party Hall behind Hi-Touch Wireless store in the Sukhsagar Restaurant strip mall.
Time: 11:30am - 3:00 pm (11:50am - 4:30 pm actual)
Scheduled Program: Cake cutting, Lunch, Music program by Sri Santosh Khammamkar

The party started on a very slow note as invitees started coming in around 11:45 and I was the only one from the host family receiving the guests and talking to them. But my conversation skills were not enough to keep them engaged. We needed Usha and the kids to bring charm to the gathering. Having only one vehicle, being used for getting things to the party hall from different places kept them and Haritha (my BiL Ravi's wife) stranded in the hotel. After a while, Ravi brought them to the party hall - past Noon and the party started coming to life.

My friends Satyasai and Lalita Kommaraju from Philly were the first to arrive, followed by Seshagiri and Rama from Edison. Then came my friend from Rutgers Satish Kethineni with his wife Srilakshmi and kids Sanjay and Sujay. While I was chatting with them, one of my maternal cousins Srinivas Kuchibhatla, whom I haven't met before, arrived with his family. And then a steady stream of friends and family started joining us. All in all, including us, we had 69 adults and 36 kids at the party.

It picked up tempo with enthusiastic participation from everyone present and by lunch time - with the menu that received good reviews - it really started to take off. Once the cake's cut the birthday party environment is in full swing and the kids had a good time jumping around and playing with the balloons (most of them were brought down and blasted by then).

Right after the lunch, just after 3:00 pm we started the music program. Our good friend Sriram Peyyety had his daughter Chy. Sreenidhi started the proceedings with a soulful rendition of a Lord Ganesha Bhajan (gajAnanayutam gaNESwaram). Sri Santosh Khammamkar started off his music program with a Kishore Kumar number and followed it up with numbers from Rafi and Mukesh, and mixed a few good telugu songs in between. Another good friend of ours Narasimham Kota had his daughter Chy. Sarvani dancing to the Bommarillu song - Apudo, ipudo, epudo kalagannane cheli. Sarvani showcased her talent with a smooth flowing dance to the song. His second daughter Chy. Manasa also danced to the Bham Bham BholE song sung by Santosh. Manasa is only 2 years old but danced very well and showed us all what's coming in the future. Narasimham garu himself showcased some cool steps in the process of encouraging his little daughter. Sriram garu started the dancing frenzy for the adults with his trademark steps and Narasimham garu joined followed by Ravi Nistala, my cousin's husband. Sriram garu pulled me as well to dance - and I obliged with my awkward-at-best steps.

We requested Smt. Sirisha Kotamraju (w/o Srinivas Kotamraju) to end the music program with her great rendition of 'nArAyaNatE namOnamO' song.

I need to mention here that all of this was made possible only with the gracious support provided by friends and family who covered several loose ends for us - before, during and after the event. And there were one too many of those, given that we were hosting the party about 180 miles away from home, in a different State. Bhargava made and brought yogurt for the party while also picking up the chapatis I ordered from a lady a little distance away from his home. Balu TKVL brought his mini-DVD camcorder to record the function. He also rushed to East Brunswick to pick up the Spinach balls curry, vadas and kaajaas from another lady I ordered them from. Seshagiri has been helping us right from the planning stages in booking the party hall and also picked up the main menu from another lady in Edison (Mango pappu, Brinjal allam/mirchi curry, sambar, Lemon rice, Dosakai pachchadi and papads). As we ran out of the pizzas for kids, he rushed out again to get another couple of them from the near by Pizza Hut.

Lalita, Padma (w/o Vikayakrishna TKVL) and Madhavi brought rice cookers while Susmitha (w/o Sundar) took charge of rice cooking. Santhi garu (oru distant relative and w/o Padmanabha Sastry - a family friend) and some other ladies at the party took charge of the food section - and making sure every body got everything they needed during the lunch. Santhi garu also helped in cutting the cake into pieces for all.

In the initial stages of party quietness, Sundar engaged the kids that were attending the party. And when we learnt that Santosh Khammamkar forgot bringing his Mixer, without which the music program cannot happen, Sundar went with Santosh to the near by Sam Ash to rent/buy a mixer. Having learnt that the equipment costs about $400+, we decided to go for a Karaoke machine from Walmart instead. And I requested Srinivas (Bhargava's BiL) to get it from the near by Walmart. He also took it upon himself to return it after the party :). Sankar and Vasantha took the boys with them to their house, so they can play with their son Mihir. That gave us the time to clean up the hall and return it in clean condition to the owners after the party. Sriram Nadimpalli helped with the video shooting while Satish helped engage the kids and took pictures of some nice occasions we missed.

Then there were others who helped us in other party logistics. All in all, almost everyone helped in making the party a grand success. The great part about it all is that everyone felt at home and took active part in the proceedings. Consider this: we had friends and family come from MA, NY, PA, VA, GA and of course NJ. Madhury and Ravi came to the party from a Boston suburb, with their 2 month old daughter Sri Lasya. Another dear friend Sriram Peyyety attended with his family having returned from India just the night before. Then there were Sundar and Susmitha who came from Reston, VA with their kids. My cousin Rani and her husband Ravi came with their 2 kids, from Falls Church, VA. We also had Sowmya and Prasad attending with their daughter, although they landed from Vegas just that morning - after taking a red eye flight.

My BiL Ravi and his wife Haritha have been of great help all along. They flew up from Columbus, GA for this party on Dec 25th itself, did a lot of planning, shopping, decorating and helped with many other logistics. We organized a few parties before - but all were close to our home, and none of this magnitude. Our heartfelt thanks to all that attended, participated and helped have a great time. We had a blast and we are already making plans for another party in 2009 :) We will see...

Swasti !!