Weddings in India…

2 months ago I had been to Gujarat to attend my cousin’s wedding. After the wedding was over, I kept thinking about weddings in general…this is what I could think of…

I feel that weddings are:

1) A good platform for finding life-partners: The day a girl turns 20 or the day a boy turns 22, she or he is made to attend as many weddings as possible so that she/he can be made visible in the wedding-market! Normally, the people in their 50s attend as many weddings as possible to find out prospective son-in-law or daughter-in-law for themselves! I remember the day I turned 21. I attended wedding of one of my cousins. There were so many unknown uncles who kept on asking “what is your salary?...where do u work?... do you have brother or sister?”…Of course, there is nothing wrong in considering wedding as a platform for finding life-partner. One of my very good friends from VJTI found his life partner in his friend’s wedding. He liked a girl, they talked, exchanged numbers and 2 months later they got engaged! So, in a way, weddings in India are a good platform for finding life-partners!

2) A good place to flaunt your money: There is no doubt that this is the world of “if you got it, you flaunt it”. This is true especially as far as money is concerned. Marriages are supposed to be one-time thing in one’s life. So, it is like, we don’t mind spending a lot on such an event. And on the top of it, if you are a millionaire, then for sure, you are gonna grab the eye-balls of the TV-viewers or Newspaper-readers! Take an example of Liz Hurley and Arun Nayyar!!.. (I remember that wedding more because of Liz Hurley than anything else :D..)

3) A good place to showcase your power: I don’t think you must not have heard of weddings being stalled because the girl’s family was not able to give the dowry that was demanded of them! This normally happens in villages. Wedding is one occasion where the boy’s family makes sure to show ki unka Audaa kitna hai!! Also, the more educated the groom is, the higher is the figure of the dowry. If a software engineer gets a dowry of Rs. 50 lakhs, then an IAS groom would get somewhere around 1 to 2 crore..!! (this is what I have heard..not sure though…)

4) A good time to have a reunion: Try to recollect the childhood days when we used to be so happy when we were told” this May, we are going to native place to attend XYZ’s wedding.” Of course we are happy that XYZ is getting married; but more of the excitement is for the fact that we will get a chance to meet all our cousins, uncles, aunties, etc..! So, in short, weddings in India are more of a reunion of all families than anything else! I like the excitement that covers the whole event. The sweet kids playing around, the excitement amongst the elders to be with the children of their nephews and nieces, the happiness in the face of the bride that she is going to spend the rest of her life with the person whom she has chosen to be with….

5) A good place to crib: Amongst all the happiness and fun, there would be an iota of people who would just crib about the things around. They would pick on things as small as “daal mein namak kam tha, poori mein tel kitna tha, ladki kitni moti hai, ladke kaan to dekho, hall kitna purana hai, kitni garmi hai, A/C ka bhi intazam nahi hai, etc.” It is like, however perfect you try to be, you would never be able to satisfy this lot of Cribbers!

6) A good place to observe people: I feel that weddings are a perfect place to witness many emotions under one roof.

1) Happiness: kids and all…etc as I have explained in point 4

2) Dissatisfaction: as explained in point 5

3) Jealousy: Let’s assume that the bride is very beautiful and the groom is OK types. If you had a secret microphone placed at every place in the hall, then surely you would hear boy say things like “ languor ke haath mein angoor…” or “kya misfit hai be... wo bandi itni babe, aur banda itna stupid dikhta hai… us se to accha mai hun… bhagwaan bhi naa …!”. Now, let’s assume that the groom is very handsome and bride is OK types. You would hear girls say “ naseeb leke paida hui hai wo bandi… muj mein kya kharabi thi…huhh!!” or “kaash mai us bande ko pehle mili hoti..!..aaj mai wahan khadi hoti uske baaju mein..aur hamaari Jodi kitni acchi lagti!” (Wedding is the event when the parents of the groom and bride should order “Surakhsha Kavach” from Tele-shopping!hahahahhaha…. )

4) Plots for writing stories or books: I can vouch for this point because I got my inspiration of the book “in their shoes…” after attending a wedding of a cousin of mine. In the wedding was this drummer who was playing drums when the groom’s family and entered the hall. Alongwith the drummer was his daughter in a red frock. She kept on observing my sister dressed as beautifully as a fairy; She kept on looking at the stage where the Feraas were going on, She kept looking at the decoration all around, the guests dressed in their best, etc… All this while, I was observing her. Then I thought, why not try to visualize what she must be thinking about the whole wedding and that is how I came up with my book “In their Shoes…” The first character of my book is Bindiya-a Drummer’s daughter…! Thanks to her that I am gonna be a writer soon!!!