Monday, January 02, 2006

a wedding in the family

actually it happened almost a week ago, but i've been wondering if it would be prudent to mention my views on it on a public forum. for the record, i still havent made up my mind on the matter but i'm going to be doing it anyways. there's a good possibility that this posting might get deleted.

it began with a disadvantaged second cousin to my mom getting her daughter married off. now it so happens that the above mentioned aunt had run away from home in her teens and gotten married to some poor sod who happened to be a few rungs below on the socio-economic ladder and from a different religion, no less. given such a history i'm sure she was petrified her daughter would make a similar mistake, to pre-empt such a situation from arising she decided to have her daughter engaged as soon as she turned eighteen.

so far so good but the family the kids getting married into also comes from a similar background. the evident problem at the wedding was that there was a huge disconnect between mom's side of the family and everyone else at the wedding reception. the problems began in the church itself. oddly, it was the hindu crowd that kept their peace and children in check while the christians there were distracted and their kids ran amok in the middle of the service. it got to such a level where the priest cut short the wedding mass and performed the marriage ceremony without much ado while lamenting the lack of attention paid by the congregation.

at this point, i was well and truly aghast for i had never known a scene like this to occur. i was sure that things could go no lower. but surprisingly, it did. there was the reception to follow and the less said about that the better. very soon it started looking like the gatherings the poor slum folk have on every occasion. there was a loudspeaker blaring the latest bollywood item numbers in the middle of really outdated and ancient english club music. all of this was played at low quality, high decibel levels.

as if this wasnt bad enough there were the ubiquitous drunken revellers that gather around loudspeakers everywhere. that this happens and is practiced by certain sections of the society is really fine but what i had trouble accepting was that i suddenly found myself related to these sections, albeit tenuously.

the icing on the proverbial cake was just that. the mini-stampede that took place near the ice-cream stand was a fitting finale to the evening.

but in every cloud there lies a silver lining. in this case i was glad for my aunt who managed to pull this event off on pretty much her own steam. i'm sure she had to plan, strategise and budget for an eternity. in spite of the brouhaha it was in more ways than one her crowning moment and a commemoration to her long years of hard work, tenacity and perseverance in the face of adversity.

what gave me hope was the young couple who had their big day. from all that i could perceive they appear to be decent, level headed and hardworking folk who might just make a good future and a comfortable life for themselves. here's wishing them all the very best.

2 comments:

D Speak said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Why have you removed the comment? Was it offending to you or anybody else?

If it was vulgar, it's ok to remove. However, if it was a rejoinder, I feel you should let your readers have the privilege of judging other opinions as well!