I have run out of things to write about. It’s the margazhi
month . That can mean only two things, blaring katcheris in the auditorium
right opposite my house and the plethora of weddings im compelled to attend.
January has just come and gone,but it seems like 10 years of
my life . First my aunt got married( she’s just a few years older than me but in
some twisted family tree angle became my aunty). Then my cousin got engaged. In
between all this, a classmate got married, another got engaged and now a senior
is getting married.
If I could go to a wedding in just casuals , that
would be LEGEN...wait for it……...DARY.
In my community, weddings are a 3-day affair. It starts off
with the haldi rasam , which entails everyone wearing yellow/orange/red dresses.The
girl is is made to undergo various rituals and baths for the purpose of turning
her into a princess within a day(fat chance of that happening).
The next day’s event is my favourite. Mehendi rasam begins with decorating the girl’s hands with mehendi. Everyone else can get themselves a little mehendi too, so it works out for me. The boys’ side comes over and does yet another set of rituals with the girl. After that ,the girls’ party goes over to the boys’ side. The saali (bride's sister) gifts him a watch and a ring. She holds on to the ring and his finger for dear life until he gives her a significant amount of money or an airline ticket to goa for instance. It’s raining money. J
The next day’s event is my favourite. Mehendi rasam begins with decorating the girl’s hands with mehendi. Everyone else can get themselves a little mehendi too, so it works out for me. The boys’ side comes over and does yet another set of rituals with the girl. After that ,the girls’ party goes over to the boys’ side. The saali (bride's sister) gifts him a watch and a ring. She holds on to the ring and his finger for dear life until he gives her a significant amount of money or an airline ticket to goa for instance. It’s raining money. J
The next day comes the actual shaadi(wedding).This is the day that
the groom has to protect his shoes…. You heard me right, Shoes. The girl’s
party makes attempts to steal it and it’s the duty of the boy’s family to
protect it. Somehow after massive planning by hook or crook, the shoes are confiscated . The groom then
has to shell out wads of bills to get them back.Its all about money,honey.
Coming to the actual wedding,the Qazi saab asks the girl for her consent. She agrees and signs in the register. Then the boy is asked the same. He recites some verses from the Quran and Lo and Behold! We have a married couple for you. Mubarak aap ko bhi.
Coming to the actual wedding,the Qazi saab asks the girl for her consent. She agrees and signs in the register. Then the boy is asked the same. He recites some verses from the Quran and Lo and Behold! We have a married couple for you. Mubarak aap ko bhi.
The day after the wedding or later comes the Valima which is performed by the boy's side. More food, so no'ones complaining.
These events are a nightmare. Imagine having to say “Assalam-alaikum "to every other person older than you in the room. First the Salaam-initiater needs to establish eye contact with the salaam-receiver, then bring the hand near the head as a form of greeting and at the same time yell out to catch the attention of the salaam-receiver. If the salaam-receiver is too far away, the salaam-initiator has to make do with the gesture, while just mouthing out the greeting.At times, the salaam goes unnoticed, so the salaam-initiator ends up feeling like a moron.
If I don’t do the salaam, my mom will chide me for being an ill-mannered girl. And everyone I forgot to greet would remember that I omitted wishing them and title me as the obnoxious type.
Think Muslim and the burqa is not far behind. France banned the burqa because it cutailed the freedom of women. Personally i feel that its none of their business.What you follow is personal. Each to his own.For now i'll leave that topic for another post.
Watching a burqa-clad woman eat is the funniest thing ever. She flips up the veil, hurriedly puts food in her mouth, and then clamps down the veil again. This she repeats a hundred times.Her hand gets exhausted faster than her hunger. Invariably she goes home wishing she could pack a little food and eat it without the wretched veil.
But all this endurance is not for nothing. The food that
gets prepared is worth the effort and the money put in.
As they say, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words.
