Ek aur jhatka..another setback within such a short span of time ! The culture shock as I would like to call it, has this time come from a set of some desis who would like to be referred as N-R-I's. What surprised me was an invitation card from these non-reliable indians, which they sent out to their close relatives inviting them for their daughters wedding in US of A. This card suggests some of the possible hotels and resorts where their relatives who come from as far as India should be making their accomodation arrangements. The card highlights the rates of per night stay along with discount codes...gasp ! **shocked**
It comes as a shock because till date, Indian weddings are considered to be an elaborate, expensive and an emotional event. The grand affair spans several days where more than the bride and the groom, the invited guests, relatives and friends have to be pampered. Having witnessed a couple of weddings personally where my folks were involved in the wedding preparations, i can authentically say that it is quite an herculean task.
The concept of wedding planners is still obscure in middle class indian weddings, so the complete onus of making sure that everything goes off smoothly is on the parents of the bride or the groom. The trickiest part in the entire hoopla is to ensure that the chacha-chachi from bhatinda have their bed tea before they even get up, mami ji from indore has toothpaste of the brand she has been using all her life in the bathroom, pune waali masi ji has PEARS and not LUX in her soapcase, buaji gets the scissors, tauji's newspaper is in his hands before it reaches the news stands in the town, the kids get their strawberry milkshakes and cheese sandwiches, the pillows are soft enough for the aunty ji who is all of a sudden conscious of her spinal cord position, there are a couple of chauffers standing 24 x 7 to drive the young girls to beauty parlors, chachi ji to a tailor who realises at the last moment that the blouse she plans to wear on the D-day is not fitting her properly...uff...and the list goes on !! Ahh...I forgot to mention that the food which is prepared during these 3-4 days should suit the tastes and restrictions of diabetic chachi ji, buaji who has high BP, kids who don't want spicy food, health conscious young ladies who detest even half a table spoon of oil, tauji who relishes delicacies prepared in nothing less than Pure Desi Ghee, chacha ji from london who needs juices and shakes instead of lassi's and chaas...even this list goes on until eternity...
But if I think of it now, weddings without all these tantrums and turns and twists would be so boring and monotonous. Fun which we have with all these relatives who gather from far and wide gives the essence to joy and excitement in the indian weddings. These are some of the moments which I look forward to in any family wedding. But I guess..**Sigh**..things are different for desis in US of A.
The concept of wedding planners is still obscure in middle class indian weddings, so the complete onus of making sure that everything goes off smoothly is on the parents of the bride or the groom. The trickiest part in the entire hoopla is to ensure that the chacha-chachi from bhatinda have their bed tea before they even get up, mami ji from indore has toothpaste of the brand she has been using all her life in the bathroom, pune waali masi ji has PEARS and not LUX in her soapcase, buaji gets the scissors, tauji's newspaper is in his hands before it reaches the news stands in the town, the kids get their strawberry milkshakes and cheese sandwiches, the pillows are soft enough for the aunty ji who is all of a sudden conscious of her spinal cord position, there are a couple of chauffers standing 24 x 7 to drive the young girls to beauty parlors, chachi ji to a tailor who realises at the last moment that the blouse she plans to wear on the D-day is not fitting her properly...uff...and the list goes on !! Ahh...I forgot to mention that the food which is prepared during these 3-4 days should suit the tastes and restrictions of diabetic chachi ji, buaji who has high BP, kids who don't want spicy food, health conscious young ladies who detest even half a table spoon of oil, tauji who relishes delicacies prepared in nothing less than Pure Desi Ghee, chacha ji from london who needs juices and shakes instead of lassi's and chaas...even this list goes on until eternity...
But if I think of it now, weddings without all these tantrums and turns and twists would be so boring and monotonous. Fun which we have with all these relatives who gather from far and wide gives the essence to joy and excitement in the indian weddings. These are some of the moments which I look forward to in any family wedding. But I guess..**Sigh**..things are different for desis in US of A.
4 comments:
lol...before readin this post, i was always aware of all such tantrums spcly by d elder lot but neva thot of th as big issues...no matter wat..weddings are fun, spcly if its a close relative!!
i love d singing n dancing routine n all d energy everybody has!!:)
cool post!!:)
@gunj: Totally agree !
cant agree more with u...have been a part of a wedding plan-groupa couple of times..all those tantrums ppl throw! :DD
keep writing pls!
Too late to comment but I read it now. To add to this, they also send the list of gifts they would like (as a preparation to set up their new home or house should I say (there is a subtle difference) and the family. Once a gift has been chosen, it cannot be selected by another guest, so please no repetitions! and these things go on.
In my opinion grand Indian weddings used to be a waste of time, energy, money but on the other hand a celebration of emotions, relationships, bonds, gossip and much more that defies pragmatic social etiquette. Still and will always love to be a part of wedding preparations and all that craziness.
P.S. Great post Whizzy :) Keep up the Indian flavour
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