Rajiv called early with a wake up call, "Namaskar! Are you still sleep?""Namaste! No, I'm awake", I slurred sleepily.
"Ok, good". So do you want to come shopping today? Me and Renu will pick you up and you can get a few things for the wedding. To wear."
"Sounds great, what time?" I asked.
"We will pick you up in about 2 hours at Cafe Coffee Day near your hotel."
"Perfect, see you there". I hung up the phone and threw my legs over the side of the bed, stretching and ready for a new day. I packed my knapsack with my trusty laptop and headed to Cafe Coffee Day, but not the one near my hotel because I couldn't find it. Cafe Coffee Day was the best place in town for wifi so I got there early, emailed Rajiv that I went to the one located in Connaught Place and started to update my blog.
By now I was a regular at Cafe COffee Day and the local waiters knew me by name.
"Namasteee!"
"Namaste" I replied and smiled, sitting down at my favorite table near the electrical outlet to keep my notebook charged. Surprisingly enough, for the only main wifi location not within a 5 star hotel, I was always the only person in there using a computer, "It has to catch up soon in India", I thought. I am sure that in 2 years this place will be swarming with nerdy websters, surfing their own internet highways and sending emails across the world like me. I paid for my 90 minutes of wifi access for the modest charge of 90 Rupees, roughly $2. I was deep into blogging when suddenly,
"Boo!" It was Renu, Rajiv's youngest sister.
"Hola!" I replied, momentarily forgetting which country I was in. But I don't think she noticed the Spanish.
"Let's go", she says.
I shut down my notebook, paid my tab and headed outside to meet the others. It was sweltering today, easily 105 degrees. Rajiv was downstairs, looking quite annoyed.
"Why did you come all the way to this Cafe Coffee Day? I told you there is one closer to the hotel." he snips.
"I couldn't find it!" I respond. Rajiv rolls his eyes.
I ask him what's wrong. He's not usually crabby.
"I'm not feeling well. I am a bit hungover." Cut to last night, Rajiv dancing after a few drinks at his party :
What he told me next though particularly disconcerting. , "I'm also feeling sick". Oh no, I thought. Poor Rajiv. Now I must stop here for a minute and express how much I care about my friend Rajiv. Over the past few days since my arrival, Rajiv has done so much to see that I am comfortable in his country even though he had an enormous wedding to plan, a new wife to adore, and visa issues to get her her change of citizenship. Being on a 21 hour flight together and sharing the common bond of working at the same office, has made Rajiv a very special new person in my life. I have that Agape love for him, you could say- like the love you have for a brother or your neighbor's children you grew up with. I am so very very happy for him and his new bride Shalini. On my first day in Delhi, while having breakfast at another Cafe Coffee Day he asks me over our lattes and curried finger foods, "Why are you smiling?" I didn't respond. I simply shook my head slowly back and forth, looking at him and Shalini nestled in the cafe couch. Rajiv is so in love and he is so happy, that is why I was smiling. But I could not explain at that moment how I felt, so I just kept smiling. Frustrated with my lack of response, he quips. "Well I want whatever you have been smoking".We laugh and finish our coffees, exhausted from the long flight from Los Angeles.
Now here we are, back on Day 6, the eve of his wedding and poor Rajiv is terribly sick. I felt horrible and as his friend I wanted to take away his discomfort, "What do you need," I ask him, "Asprin, anti-biotics, tummy pills??? I got it all". I start rifling through my book bag which has become my portable pharmacy. "No thank you", he says, "I'll be fine"
We hop in the car- the air ablaze with heat and rising. Getting into the car was like stepping into a convection oven. I wipe my forehead and think "Gosh its hot", in Frosty the Snowman's voice, just before he melts.
In the car is Bela, Rajiv's sister, Uru- Bela's 15 year old daughter, and Renu. Lunch is passed around in a grease stained brown bag- McDonalds. Sodas make the rounds too, Renu hands me McAloo Tikka Burger which is a lightly breaded veggie burger since India doesn't ever eat beef. I also eat more fries than I should have, but they were yummy just like at home. We race through town, in the frantic hustle of New Delhi traffic, horns honking capriciously at one another. We laugh and joke all the way to Lajpatnagar Central Market, one of Delhi's busiest marketplaces or as I like to think of it- the 125th St. and Lennox of New Delhi. Today we are there to get outfits for tomorrow's wedding.
First its shoe shopping.
I purchase my suit for the wedding, a pair of shoes, and jewelry. We also get our hands painted with mehndi, henna painting on the hands which is traditional of Indian weddings.
After almost passing out at the market, due to the heat of the day, I slump down at a silver wholesalers stand ans sift through beautiful pieces of Indian jewelry, exhausted from the long afternoon. Tomorrow is the wedding. 
