Indians
and especially South Indians are preys to lots of social gatherings. Come August
and September and everyone who is deemed to be “settled” decides to get
married. While we are mercilessly dragged from marriage to the other, our
parents explain the painfully long relationship of our family with the
“marriage party”. The venue is generally located in a place which is not even
found on Google Maps and in a place which we don’t even consider a part of the
city. Marriage gift is usually cash as bouquets are considered to be costly for
something that lasts only for one day. After stopping bang at the entrance of
the venue, everyone takes their own sweet time to get out of the car (after
giving explicit instructions to the driver to have a hearty dinner) with other
vehicles forming a long queue behind for the same reason. A lady who might have
been an air hostess previously, greets you with a smile (Fake. Even you know it)
and offers roses (and only roses at every wedding) to the guests. While a VIP
wedding might even have door frames and metal detectors and Airport level
security in place, you might get a wild card entry depending on your “face
value”.
Inside
is a huge commotion and sometimes it might even look like a stampede if the
bride’s father thinks he’s fine with a smaller venue. A sea of starched-golden
border zari sarees greet you with the
additional glitter of 916 KDM gold ornaments shining away mightily in the heavy
luminous lighting. While people chatter away incessantly below, those who for
some reason realise the reason why they are at that particular place are seen
standing in a serpentine queue to greet and bless the married/to-be-married
couple. While parents pull us from one corner of the hall to the other showing
us off to different people whom we have never seen or never heard of or
probably would never meet again, the roller coaster ride begins. The ladies
talk of how small we were when they last saw us and their very knowledgeable
husbands start by asking us our names and end by giving us unrequited career
advice with their kids occasionally smiling and looking as lost as you are.
These discussions range from which IIT coaching centre is the best or why
Infosys is not performing well now or even whether Rahul Gandhi will be the PM
candidate for 2014 Elections.
After
sometime you get to the dias to greet the couple along with your parents. While
some quick introductions are given and you congratulate them both, it’s time
for the awkward camera pose. As you turn towards the photographers, you are
blinded by an array of lights focussing on you. While an assistant on stage
positions the males on the groom’s side and the females on the bride’s side and
tries to accommodate as many people as possible, everyone starts to click at
once. In the end you either make it to the printed album or you stay in the “My
Marriage Fotos” folder depending on your proximity to the family, your
importance to them and their budget.
As
people are judging the arrangements or deciding whether the bride or the
bridegroom is the luckier one or even discussing what the bride “offered” the
bridegroom for the marriage; the heart leaps towards food even though we are
totally aware of what’s on the platter. The food section is a curious mix of
cuisines with no logical reasoning. It usually starts with some chaat along with salads and some Chinese
starters, moves to rotis and curries
(paneer is quintessential) and then for some funny arrangement of Biryani and Noodles and then some plain
rice with the usually bhendi and aloo curries while sambar, rasam and curd look at you. The dessert section has vanilla
ice cream with either carrot halwa,
double ka meetha, gulab jamoon or kurbaani ka meetha as an add on. In the
end there is package of sweet pan, a cherry and a tooth pick in a zip lock
cover.
After
people fell they’ve had enough, they proceed to leave. At the exit is one
family member from the bride’s side and one from the groom’s side deciding who
should get what as return gifts to take home. The size of the package is decided
the photography way; proximity, importance and budget. Everything complete,
they roll out the same way they’ve entered.
The
way back home is an analysis of the marriage, the people and the experience. While
plans are made to attend the next wedding, we usually ask one question that’s
been haunting us for the past few hours:
“So did we go on behalf of the bride or the
groom?”