The Big Fat Indian Wedding

And a lot more…

Where have I been?

I have not been here,

That is for sure…

For I have returned today,

After the break which lasted many a day…

And which I thought had come perhaps to stay,

But nay,

All bad things come to an end,

As do all good,

And so did this sabbatical…

It all started with a simple fever,

Which tied me to the bed for 4 days,

The sad part was I was tied alone…

4 days of lonely struggle came to end,

Only to bring such an evil to my life,

Which had not visited me before…

I met with an accident,

On the very Saturday I had gotten out of bed,

Only to be put back on it again…

I was lucky that I had not taken my bike that day,

For a 75 year old aunty banged from behind,

Banged my kinetic from behind that is,

And left me sprawling on the road below,

For a second I did not know what had happened,

But only for a second…

I had been hit,

I had been hurt,

But I think greater damage was done behind me,

3 cars had banged into one another,

And now their owners banged into one another,

And in the meanwhile,

The aunty of ours sat in her car,

Clutching the steering wheel as if it was her baby,

And I sprawled in the middle of the road…

The impasse broke,

She walked out of the car,

Came up to me,

Asked me whether I was fine,

To which I replied I was fine,

And then she said,

You should drive slow son,

To which I could only laugh,

A car comes from your rear,

Slams into you,

And you were driving fast,

I hope only if things could be so logical…!

All said and done,

I picked myself and my kinetic,

Silently moved to a side,

Checked both the material and physical damage,

And walked away,

For what was to be done had been done already,

I calculated I would have to spend probably 200 to repair my kiny,

No point fighting for it,

And as for the cuts and bruises,

All they needed was time,

So came another leave of few days from office,

And so I let the cats of the cars fight for the pie of insurance claims and FIRs…!!!

Here comes to an end part 1 of the story,

And yet there is no marriage…

If part 1 was about me,

Part 2 is about the marriage,

Marriage which was slated for July 11…

My leave of a week,

To heal my wounds had come to an end…

It was followed by a week spent in office,

Covering for what all had been missed,

And there was a lot,

And what all was going to be missed,

For the week after another leave had to commence,

Leave for the wedding…

The day of the wedding had scenes such as the ones described below,

The bride dressed in pink,

Walked down the aisle,

Lead to the elevated platform,

By her brother,

As the groom waited for the bride,

And the world of the banquet,

All packed in one,

Watched with bated breath,

As if the bride and groom,

Were the own of uncles and aunties,

And teen aged and the ones in the 20’s ,

Watched as if it was their turn,

To walk the aisle of love and longing…

The bride and groom were the crown jewels of the show,

Watched by everyone,

Except their own selves,

They sat in poses,

And clicked for their relatives,

They sat in poses,

And clicked for all their distant relatives,

They sat in poses,

And clicked for their friends,

They sat in poses,

And clicked for the photographers,

But they never sat the way they wished to,

And never clicked they would have wished to,

For the world was watching,

And when the world watches with its fake smiles,

You are forced to watch it back with a forced smile on your face…

Soon the evening passed into the early hours of the night,

The groom and bride were seated,

As the pandit chanted the verses of the wedding,

Waiting anxiously for the rituals to come to an end…

For them to take the seven rounds around the fire which was meant to be holy,

To exchange vows which were meant to last a lifetime…

And I was there,

There during the whole proceedings,

Right from the time the groom was escorted,

To the time the bride was escorted,

To the time when all the photos were clicked,

To the time when all the rituals were performed,

To the time when the final push was made to the car,

The car which had them both,

I was even there at the venue,

Before all of this happened,

I was there a day before too,

I was there days before,

Haggling for prices and deals,

The best deals for the best marriage,

I had no choice but to be there,

For I was the only brother of the bride,

Yes, my sister got married on the 11^th………

And with it came to end,

Things we had shared over the period of my whole life,

We had always stayed together,

Under the same roof for all these years,

And now she has vanished,

To a distant and unknown place,

But she is happy,

And so am I…

This pretty much explains where I was,

For all these days…

But I am back,

Back after experiencing the Big Fat Indian Wedding,

And all its nuances,

And trust me are a lot more than one wishes to assume…!!!