Some time in March, I sat next to my good friend Manoj in the movie theatre and moments before the movie began, we chatted and caught up with each other’s lives. The question I asked him was, “So, how’re things with you and your girlfriend?” The last time we talked about this was when we were in Tokyo, September last year. And he replied:
“We’re getting married.. In May. No, this year May.”
To which I had replied, “You’re shitting me, right?” many, many times till we all sat down after the movie and really talked about it. And from then till Thursday, 21st May… there had been a lot of flight ticket stalkings, bookings, leaving applying and swapping, visa acquiring and a little research done on where to go in India.
We went into India being warned by our Indian friend, Arafath, not to expect anything. So we did, and thus far had been pleasantly surprised throughout. Our first challenge faced was right at the entrance to India. Of all the immigration channels I’ve encountered and gone through, India has got to be one of the most detail orientated. You can’t just write ‘Namakkal, Tiruchirapalli’ on the address part on your immigration card, you’d have to be specific down to the damn postal code. Lucky for us, I had the address handy in my phone when I asked Manoj for a reference address or there’d be quite a hold up. After successfully passing through immigration, at 1130 pm, our night wasn’t over yet.
An MPV bearing the wedding couple’s faces showed up to pick us up. God forbid that if we went into the wrong car, we won’t be going to Manoj’s wedding. This was my first introduction to weddings in India. All vehicles ferrying guests to a particular wedding must have a picture of the couple taped to the windscreen. Off we went on a bumpy 2.5 hour journey into a village called Namakkal where Manoj’s wedding was to be held. Upbeat, Tamil songs were blasting through the speakers throughout the entire journey.
After what seemed like ages, we arrived at Kumar Sanu International Hotel, the place where guests to the wedding were put up at. It was a basic hotel, surprisingly very clean and comfortable.
Time check: 0230 hours
Pick up time: 0530 hours
Note that everyone but me were from work the day before, and they haven’t slept since they all woke up at the crack of dawn. So we wasted no more time and climbed into bed for some shut eye. I woke up with the air conditioner blowing full blast in my face. Not fun. Sushan was buried somewhere under the blanket. But we had to get up.
Climbed into my sari (which was conveniently stitched so I didn’t have to battle with 5 metres of fabric) and got ready in under 45 minutes.. hair, make up and all. Sushan had a war with her sari and eventually gave up, reasoning that someone will help her out later on. The boys had better luck than us getting ready that early in the morning it seemed. They all looked great in their dhotis, except for Azar who went for the North Indian suit pants look and looked awesome as well.
During our 15-minute journey to the wedding venue, Sushan and I heard the very first compliment Arafath ever sincerely gave. “You two look beautiful in your saris.” And that was quite a feat coming from this guy, so we lapped it all up while it lasted. There was still time before the wedding, after we finally saw the groom and bride and said hi, we went out to the fields and said hi to the cows…. with Sushan in heels.
0730 am was the auspicious hour for the wedding. It was a vibrant and colourful affair with relatives playing a huge role in the ceremony. There was a priest leading the marriage rituals and a lot of blessings to go around. Manoj ties the gold wedding necklace around his new wife’s neck, and FINALLY Manoj and Malar weds!
After the ceremony, we were treated to a banana leaf feast. There was a little bit of everything on each leaf, and they were all delicious. I spent more time getting myself educated on what each were than eating them (earning a telling off from Ummar the Grouch) but I really enjoyed the mushroom pilaf, the vermicelli appetizer and the ultra sweet dessert. Yum.
Of course, we didn’t pass on the opportunity for some quality wefies with the bride and groom. Our good friend Manoj is FINALLY married!
After which we left them alone to have their much awaited breakfast and we hung around for a little while longer figuring out what to do that afternoon. Ummar was more interested in a pillow seeing how he happily dozed off in the middle of the wedding ceremony.
It was our very first day in India, and our introduction to the Indian summer. It ain’t fashionable; it was sweltering hot, humid and sticky even during the nights. I had another 9 more days to go and I will learn the hard way that it doesn’t get any better as we travelled up north.
