Sunday, 20 October 2013

A Shubh Aarambh!

A day before, you are fretting over whether you'll be able to sail through what's going to come the very next day or not. Worry and Anxiety promise to be with you in thick and thin. You are drunk with the poison of expectations. What happens when you're drunk?
You let it all go!
That is the way to go, boy!
When you let it go; not fret over it, it actually comes back to you with a blessing.
Okay, if you thought I had been talking of something grave and significant all this while, I think I should better      open it up. All this while, I've been talking about clothes! Oh come on, it's a big and plump Indian Wedding, what else did you expect? It's the season of everything bling and you cannot breeze through it without having second thoughts about your clothes. Especially if you belong to the female species. An ordinary printed salwar kameez, no matter how many bucks you shelled out on it, will bring you eyes and words rolling and attacking you. That bling factor is surely required!
If I come back to the very idea of letting go, I must tell you it works wonders. It's like you're wearing the denims that someone else has asked you to wear and when you take them off and put on your comfortable pyjamas, you realize it's all so stupid! Difficult to comprehend? Okay, I'll cut it short. It is like when you are inside this whole jingbang, you feel you've got to flow with the crowd, do what everyone else is doing. But it's only when you step out of it and let it all go that you are truly yourself. And, by that I mean what every other creature in movies or popular websites tell us to do: Be Yourself! That sounds crazy but it's worth the effort. And, it's easy too. You just tell yourself you look beautiful (oh, the pancakes do wonders!) and it's done! Jokes apart, you've to really let it all go. Just sit back; act as if you're high and say to yourself: It's all good to me, come whatever may. And, there you go. Work accomplished.
So when you wake up the very next morning and work hard like you've never done that before, you're surely in for a treat! Cleaning the entire house doesn't seem to be a Herculean task, does it? Once that's done, what remains for you is to sit and eat fruits. Fruits? Hell yeah. The fruits of your hard work! Sounds quite philosophical and I can’t help it.
The next bit is even more interesting. This is when the ‘Shaadi ka Kirtan’ function is about to begin. We, Indians, it seems, love the last moment touch-up. Are my hair well tied up? Have the pancakes hid the blemishes well? IS the dress glittery enough to call it a good beginning to the fatty wedding that’ll follow? Oh, boy. The brain gets clogged yet again and you apply Rule number one: let it all go. That said, you step out and do what you feel is good.  A group of women sing in praise of a list of Gods and Goddesses and the young girls and boys in the family dance to the tune. So, not only considering your choice but also as part of the ritual, you rise up and dance to their tune. And, if you are someone like me who has a little trouble in shaking the leg, you’ve got to come up with new inventions in the dancing steps, without feeling embarrassed and enjoying the celebrations instead!
Now, because today, we not just live in the real world but the virtual one as well, everybody around us wants to be clicked. Snap, snap. One means you want to preserve this special day as a memory; ten would be like you’re so happy that you want to be clicked with every member present there; five hundred means that you have completely submitted yourself to the virtual world and you need a break! This fake-book is like if you didn't put up a picture or made a status of some event that you attended in the real world, well, you never really went there. *chuckles*
Okay, that is digression. So leaving all that crap, you go ahead and dance! You don’t really seem to care about the virtual world because you chose real over virtual. You just dance till people ask you to sit because they have to have a praying session as well.
And, then comes the sentimental moment. The to-be-bride sits in the center surrounded by people and the singers sing songs that make everyone around her cry. She cries too. You don’t understand their situation when you’re not into tears and you choose not to understand it because you might encounter the same some other day.
Moving on, there comes the eating part. You invoked Him for a shubh aarambh to the wedding, you've cannot miss the fruits. Fruits, again? Hell yeah! Only this time, they are in the form of Dahi-bhallas, aalo-chaat, dosa, cheela and halwa, not to miss the different colors of aerated drinks being served. That said you can’t just dive in and hog because, hey, you’re the host family. And, well, it is beautiful to play the host. It might be tiring but yes, it is beautiful. You just automatically get into the skin of the host, no practice or pretension required. That is awesome.
After that bit is over, what remains for you is to wind up the entire function which a woman remarked was a good ending for one function but you correct her by addressing it to be a good beginning to the beautiful event yet to come. That too is a journey. Man, too much philosophical thoughts to digest.
When that too is done, you find a good place in your house, sit with a small cup of coffee and say, “Oh, this has surely been a Shubh Aarambh!”


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