The Wedding       

Every Indian wedding has a purpose and the vow to hold on to each other for ever-lasting eternity and to create magnanimous miracle and definitely not a devastating debacle.

The wedding began on a beautiful fresh Friday afternoon in the middle of October, along the coasts of the Goa beach.

The persistent waves crashed across the shore creating a beautiful resonance, and the peers were all in their beautiful sparkling dresses and when it comes to dress, Indians don't do dress but instead it's all about the rich silk that gleams more beautiful even than the ocean that seems to be like a blanket of diamonds in the eyes of the beholder in response to the the yellow tone among a roof of nothing but blue tinge.

The most predominant thing about Indian weddings is the Carnatic music and the big Indian gifts.

Before the wedding began, I , Mr. Ravi Mohan, the groom and the bestman, Mr. Kunal Raghavendra and the groomsmen were all in the beach house getting ready and were getting our pictures taken. And looking on to the other side of the beach house, the bride, Ms. Nandita Prakash who would be Mrs. Ravi Mohan within two hours forty-five minutes and three seconds along with her mother and the rest were getting ready.

I was in a pink suit and my parents were furious about it since I had broken the custom of wearing a silk veshti with the culture of being slightly westernized. But that was the first time, where I had desperately brought myself out into the world where I gave a subtle damn about the society and their norms, not even subtle , it kind of went in reverse like to zero and then to negative so definitely it nullified the possibility of subtle damn. And most importantly, Nandita was the one who wanted me to do what I loved to do rather than something that the society wants me to do. Oh! God. How could I ever thank a woman, a beautiful generous selfless woman, who was there for me always? The one and only one who ever made me feel alive and brought me back to my senses in an inhumane world. This would definitely raise a question over here, and proceed with it. No! It's definitely not a marriage that has completely taken advantage of all the schooling and university days and had led to a legal contract of marriage.

It's a legal contract that had taken advantage of the matrimonial sites and had brought us here. I was never a person to fall in love or the one to be committed to someone for all my mortal life so I never knew what my parents were onto until my father came along one day and, he knocked on my door and this is where all of you would get it wrong, he never knocked he always led his way right into my room just like how the police officers invade the suspects' abode but even the suspects are provided with a personal room but me on the other hand, that was basically a store room where all the useless and the rest was . So he just flung the door open and I never really was conscious of what I was doing. I was half- asleep and half-naked with my pants on and my hands in and the volume high in my mobile and this was the moment when I was caught red-handed but to be confronted with the truth, that was never like what he thought it to be. The moaning sound as he assumed to be was actually the prank audio track that my friend as well who's my best man Mr. Kunal Ragavendra had sent. I was tongue-tied and my father was jaw dropped upon hearing, " Ohhhh! Daddy! Harder!" and that's when I knew I was going to be accused of this petty issue but a complexity according to them for ages and ages by recalling and bringing it up each and every time I do something audacious with a little temerity according to them.

And my dada started to yell at me like as if he had conquered the world and I was blank and deaf for a moment and my whole of present, past and the unpredictable Indie future was out of focus except my dada who was like Yama, the god of death and then he approached towards the direction of my mother that is exactly forty five degrees to my left. And he yelled at her, " Didn't I tell you Bhagya that this is what he had been doing all alone here? This is what happens when one is pampered well just like him by his mother." And just like always my mother was unable to control the situation that my father had made complex. My mother and I exchanged glances and just by looking at her, I was able to read between the lines and from my thorough observation upon eons and eons all she said was, " Why kanna?" My lips frowned. That's when they started to go through matrimonial sites and that's when I met Nandita, maybe they came across Nandita. And then they authoritatively tied my hands sturdily and sealed my lips as I was reluctant about it and then they put me in the backseat of the taxi and took me there. Nobody would believe but even they bribed the taxi driver so that he doesn't tell anything that would tear up their reputation.

And when we reached 21, H Cross Road , 3rd line and that's when they released me and as I stepped down from the taxi, I got this sensation like once in a million year. For the first time, I felt like home. There were folks waiting for our arrival and they welcomed us in and that's when I knew everything was going to be alright soon and that's the moment when we heard someone calling us out, " Hey, Mappila! Where are you going? This is the brides' place." So once again I knew everything was going to be exponentially tremendously cursed and the house was well-built and it was formal and on a scale of one to ten, anybody would give it a eight and the folks were not so welcoming. And there was this chap who was the brides' uncle and stating this would be a mortifying one but I'm afraid to tell that he was digging his nostrils and said," Vanakam Mappila!" And even my dada kind of sneered at his gesture and then we all proceeded further with great disgust and contempt but as an Indian my father maintained that ever glowing facial expression so that they don't reject his son.

I stumbled and fell. Then, everything seemed to be blur unless the woman of the hour had arrived and had lend her hand out so that I could lift myself up but I was levitating, I knew at the very moment that she was the love of my life and that's when I said, " Maybe I ain't homesick anymore." She was quizzical and said, "Huh?" But I was star-struck and jaw-dropped. It was love at first sight and her electric eyes were everything any woman would be jealous of and any man would be in love with.

Down to earth, I was obviously pushed into oblivion and then knelt down on my right and took out the diamond ring that had lost its' luster when confronted with the non-fictional face of beauty and love. The whole world was out of focus and all she did was blushed, and her scarlet lips were in utter surprise and that was the moment I knew she was in love. She bent down and whispered, "Yes! I'm ready to be Mrs. Ravi Mohan."

Then, there was no obvious necessity for the elders to look over the issue though it was a mortifying proposal for the Indian parents.

Then, Nandita and I...

"Where is the bride and the groom? The wedding is supposed to begin within five minutes but seems like these young people would take an eternity to attend the ceremony of ten minutes, I hope so Raji."

So this is where I'm supposed to stop rewinding the past and to get married. The day was quite sunny and there were mumbles and whispers as I stepped out and ahhh! There she was! All dressed in pink and glitters, she slowly paced and conscious of each and every step. Her eyes strolled unless those met mine. She smiled and her parents accompanied her to the wedding platform and then it was my turn to sit next to her. And that was it, the moment that I had been waiting for.

The music began, and then, it was all over. She became Mrs. Ravi Mohan and that was the beginning of a new life.