It was a typical tamil arranged marriage(Exchanging horoscopes, guy’s family checks out the girl, guy checks out the girl, girl’s family checks out the guy, his earnings, his savings and his family, meeting of the elders of the families,… I’ll save this for a different post later!) I am not going to bore you or enlighten you about the various rituals involved and the various traditions followed. So, if you are looking for those, I suggest that you stop reading this and Google it!
It’s just my observation of the various generations at the wedding. This is the first wedding in my family. Let me start with the Grandparents. After several days of waiting – after all the “I want to see atleast one wedding before I die” drama (seriously, Haven’t you seen enough weddings? Yours, your children’s, your 60th wedding to name a few) we’d appreciate a simple “I want to see you married and happily settled” -they are the ones who are as excited as a child taken to Disneyland. The moment my sister and I entered the hall along with the bride, we were introduced to our grandmother’s friends as “ She is working in Bangalore and is next in line waiting and she is working in Coimbatore who will be after her” . Well, I am not asking her to read out my entire resume but atleast she could’ve mentioned the B.Tech degree (that I had to slog for for 4 yrs) or the company I’m working in( after worrying about placements for several nights). A warning bell sounded inside our heads and we moved far off from the place to avoid further direct introductions.
Next in my line are the small town parents. They are the ones caught between the traditional Grandparents and the current generation who question every single custom. They, who have been used to nodding their heads to everything their parents told them sometimes find it unacceptable when they are questioned by their kids. After arguing with their children over everything starting from the heavy eye-catchy golden kancheepuram silks to the gold accessories to the bindi sizes , listening to the gossips from the other aunties , comparing their sons/daughters with the other relatives’ , introducing their so and so ‘s to others (Atleast this time, my company was mentioned and I wasn’t waiting in any Q), asking “Vaanga vaanga..saaptaacha?? Saapida poonga! “ to everyone in their sight, they are the ones who are the most exhausted by the end of the day.
And finally, it’s our generation. The first thing that comes to our head is “kalyaana sapaddu”(Wedding food) . But being a gal, I had to be careful about not tripping on my saree, eating so as not to smudge the lipstick, keeping a big smile plastered on the face fulltime as the camera can be anywhere, smiling sweetly when every adult says “aduthu nee than”(It’s you next!) when my mind voice sarcastically says “aarambichutaangalaaaya!” . To the jealous guys out there who think that girls easily steal away all the attention at a wedding, try getting into our extra high heeled shoes that competes with our saree to trip us over, you ‘ll then know that things are not that easy for us. And the guys, well.. you know..they try to look their best and look at the best, and hog! ;)
More posts coming up… Until then, as a friend of mine says, Love, peace and Chicken grease…
