Indian Weddings....

Marriages have often made headlined in Delhi…..not for the obvious reason of 'How Grand it Was' or 'Celebrity Wedding'…but for the 'Number of marriage ceremonies taking place in a single evening all over the city'. Ha…A funny thought but its true. The max that I have read about is 25,000 marriages in a single day…

I have many a times pondered on the concept of - 'Marriages made in heaven' . If that was supposedly true then the right guy/girl must come and fall in my lap….wahi na 'Aasmaan Se Gira, Bus Mujhpe Hi Atka ;o) '.

In recent time most of us become professionals at a very young age and can hardly find time to think about hunting for a life partner. It is ones own life and he/she is the most affected….yet there are a million people involved in finding the right partner for you. Nowadays its not only your parents who are concerned, its your distant relatives…their distant relative…you friends and their relatives…your neighbors and their relatives not to forget your mom's kitty group too has a contribution to make in it. Above all these people newpaper matimonials also have their share to pay. Well this is the case when you have been brought up with the values – ‘Mom Dad Ki Pasand Se Hi Shaadi Karni Hai’…or so to term it as ARRANGED Marriage.

It’s a completely different case if you are going for the Love marriage which you have to end up arranging for yourself. First you shortlist a set of girls/guys who you are most attracted to…then check the gel-well level between you two…then the gel-well with his/her family…then the gel-well between your family and the choice one…then the gel-well between the two families….then the convincing of the strong-headed elders of your family( who will cause the much expected obstacles for the marriage to take shape) often pointing in the directions of - he/she is not the RIGHT choice for you. Once you have done all the field work and are still up and running, you need to arrrrrrrrrange this LOVE marriage.

To add to the glorification of the wedding we nowdays hunt for the most interesting Pandits. They are responsible for matching the Kundlis and telling you all the Auspicious Dates that you can choose from, as your wedding date… From this every moment your dreams and hopes start building and you start working for the actual marriage ceremonies :o).

With much discussions and re-rethinking the dates are finalised. Then the most appropriate Venue to match your social stature. With each passing day the wedding shopping trips to the market become more frequent. Your daily schedules now include running between the caterers, the florists, the DJ people and the tenthouse people who can come up with a brand new excuse to not live up to your expectations and specifications. Hats off to the tailors who take their own sweet time to stitch your clothes still make you go home dissatisfied until the very last day.

Inspite of all the running around and hurdles, the spirit of marriage is still intact. On the wedding day a few responsible youngsters are given tasks to handle and manage one ceremony each. Very efficiently they handle everything that could go and what actually wrong does. The rest of the attendees come and attend thee event and give their advices (mostly unwanted and uncalled for) about how things could be better. But they also add a word of praise to all the responsible people to make the event a success.


With a lot of pomp and show the marriage takes place :o). The couple have a glowing look on their face (the beauty parlor people are primarily responsible for the it) as it’s the biggest events of their lives and they finally are becoming one…”Do Jism Ek Jaan Hain Hum”. The panditji adds some pep to the event during the Pheras….Then after the much awaited haggling at the Joota Chupai event the bride bids farewell to her family and goes away with her groom to start a new world of their own.