the reflections

Yesterday I went to my friend's marriage. What’s so great about it! Yes nothing special about it. It is about the greatness of something called "marriage" alias shaadi a.k.a pelli, as it is called in our very own Telugu. And it is all about this idea to celebrate it in a big way. In bygone days marriage used to be an occasion where whole of the village (this word could even be plural) came together to bring in two souls together, for rest of their lives. It would be a fun filled activity extended with programs that stay on for a fortnight. It is not often that people get married, if you are getting what I mean by. It ceased to be a truly memorable event.

That's not the case with the present day weddings. Things happen just like.As if nothing has ever happened, at all. In a flash.zapaakkkk........Every thing would finished in one day and not even that in many a instances. Just hours. Reasons are ample and simple. It could be something like the bride has to take the next flight home(second home),what else could it be(US). Bride groom, in umpteen cases may not accompany the bride. Come on ...guess it.Bingo..,yes her visa is either not yet prepared or due to (some damn reason).

And there are cases when neither of them knows all the people who come to their marriage to bless them. Father,follows his modus operandi and introduces his colleagues and mother, their four or five decades old paternal or maternal relatives who would start narrating all chronicles that, how hard we try to understand does not make much sense. They smile and nod their heads, guessing and pretending as if they are remembering everything. Sometimes it is so peculiar and comical that we might not have even stepped into this world when all that happened, but still we will be part of the drama that (unfortunately) unfolds . It is more of a good will gesture than anything else on earth.

These days’ marriages have become so unconventional and sometimes more of an obligation, people turn up during food time, have quick feast(sounds strange, right!) and back to their business. People just cannot make it at the right time. There feet would directly lead them to the dinning hall, interestingly burying the whole idea of marriage(or say any get together), let alone forget blessing the bride and the bride groom. They just cannot help it. Funniest of the all is, we see many people for the first time in life. Things have turned up so funny (and ironic) that we see them only twice or thrice in whole of our life. Those moments undoubtedly are of utmost importance, one is when we step into this higgledy-piggledy world , one more time when we get married and ultimately when we leave this world. Of course, it is not so necessary that people should witness all but at least one instance I think is sure.

It is not just marriage, I suppose, it is the case with all the events one like celebrate with his/her near and dear. One could find people constellating in the dining hall, well before even meeting ( or wishing) the host, in any kind of gathering. Agreed, food plays a major role in our culture, but life does not start or end with it. Of course I cannot deny how good a table topic is food to talk in lengths and breadths. To be honest I am the first to check out where the dining hall is and would make sure to reach any place just in time for food.

Bottom line is as clear as hot rasam served in all traditional south Indian marriages, we should not loose the ubiquitous human touch and bond that exits beyond all this terrestrial affairs. They can only be part of the picture but cannot be the whole picture.Period.