1st of July,’09. It was my friend’s wedding. For me, it was a much awaited event after my college life got over. We have been classmates since 1st standard. Not particularly a close friend in the beginning, in the later part of my school life and thereafter, she became one of my dearest friends. For, she is one person, whom I can rely on, even today, maybe because of her simplicity and truthfulness.
When she broke the news of her engagement three months ago, it came as a surprise for me. I didn’t quite expect someone of my age (though I don’t claim to be very young either!) to tie the knot so soon. But sensing the excitement in her voice, I thought she must be really happy. So I looked forward to it. To me she was somebody who could stand for herself, no matter what the others thought about her.
She had written in my slam book, a few years back “Few years hence, I would be a housewife, even healthier, with a caring husband and perhaps teaching some children in a school”.
While we dreamt of making it big for ourselves, it was sort of ingrained in her that, she was destined to be a good wife, a good mother and imbibe all the qualities that epitomize femininity.
The D-day was about to dawn. I arrived at her home the day before the wedding, as she wanted a friend to be by her side throughout the day. I hardly felt like a stranger there. The family members (theirs is a joint family) whole-heartedly welcomed me and treated me as one among them. I was overwhelmed by their hospitality, something which I must say , feels like a privilege to be an Indian.
It was 10pm at night. Beautiful patterns out of Mehndi were being etched on her hands and feet. I had it applied on my hands too.
Both of us were waiting for the Mehndi to dry out. We started chatting all this while and continued till 2 am. I was curious to know what it felt to start a completely new phase in a girl’s life. She explained, it was a mixed feeling. She felt lucky that she was getting married to a person who loved her for what she was (Though it was arranged, they got to know each other through the courtship period of 3 months). At the same time, she was yet to come to terms with the feeling of staying away from her parents and her beloved sister.
It stirred up some thoughts in my mind. [It reminded me of a girl, I claimed to know. The girl I knew was just like any other girl. She dreamt and dreamt…She knew deep inside that perhaps she would never experience this day in her life, but still she could visualize him kissing away her tears and adoring her for what she was, and waking up the next moment, only to realize, it had nothing to do with reality. When she looked at her mommy, she knew she could never part with her. Despite picking up fights with her sometimes and may be totally disagreeing with her mom sometimes, she knew she could live her life for her, stay by her side as long as she could. She had a friend in her dad too. Her dad was someone who was not to be trifled with. She had argued with him on quite a few decisive moments in her life, but deep down she knew he ultimately gave in to all of her wishes. She saw tears in his eyes for the first time, when she left home for her college. She wanted to see both of them proud of her someday….The transition is difficult …may be more so for a girl….]
Enough of straying away from the subject I guess………
So, back to 1st July. The morning hours were busy, with a host of ceremonies being performed one after the other. I had a good time watching them.
We reached the marriage hall ‘Punjab Viradari’ at 3pm. The “pheres” were performed at around 7pm followed by a couple of other ceremonies. The children stole the groom’s shoes in the meantime.
The guests were treated to a sumptuous feast. I was waiting for my other school friends. Unfortunately, just one of them turned up.
At around 12 am it was time for ‘vidayi’. She left for her new abode amidst tears of her near and dear ones…….
“Marriages are made in heaven” ..Well, must be so!!
