February 14th 2016, around 8:30am. Somewhere on the NH7 - The Start
"Boy! This guy is gifted... The gift of gab." I said to myself while cautiously looking at the speedometer every once in a while... and simultaneously, acting as if I cared. But, in reality, I was screaming within "Enough about the Delhi Odd-Even rule, about those outer ring roads, about your "first" visit to Hyderabad, about love, about the choice of music "we" like and blah, blah, blah! Now, please let me listen to Ms. Mangeshkar's melodious 'Lag jaa gale' in peace." All this, mentally, of course... and with this woeful look on my face, waiting for Maddy to look at me and realize what a blunder he had made. However, Maddy wasn't here, at least, not mentally. He was peacefully staring into the space from the window of the front passenger seat, unperturbed. Sitting in his usual style - pushing the front seat completely backwards, occupying, what could be, enough leg room for two and reclining! Thankfully, our new Honda City is very spacious. It provides more than enough leg room for the passengers in the rear when people like Maddy sit in the front. Speaking of rear - Bala was sulking in the rear passenger seat exactly behind the driver (your caring narrator) while our guest who was diagonally opposite to me in the back, kept chatting! Now, why was he sulking?! Hmm, um, why can't I remember…? Was it because he did not get to sit in the front seat? No. Uh... oh, oh, his choice of song was not played?! No! Well, who cares! It is Bala, after all. The point is since he was sulking, he was pardoned and allowed to gladly gaze out of the window without paying attention to what our guest had to say – Making me the only person who was obliged to listen (Or act) while he chatted away. Mann! This guy does not even take a pause. "Lata ji, I miss you so much… now more than ever!" I constantly said to myself all along the drive.
February 14th 2016: Rewind a couple of hours, at 06:45am - The Back story
We all (Maddy, Bala and I) woke up early and started off at around 7am. We were joined by a friend of Maddy's. Let's call him 'Gabby', going forward. We were all on our way to a wedding. Maddy and Gabby are friends with the groom. So, Maddy insisted me to come along. It was a February wedding, I thought why not. More importantly, it was not an usual wedding. It was one of those Mass-marriages event happening on the occasion of Basant Uthsav. I was told that people all over India who follow 'Rama Chandra Mission' (was it?) would be there... Uh, I am least interested when it comes to politics and religion so forgive me for my lack of knowledge on this subject. In any case, the point is I'd get to see something unusual - People from different parts of India with same beliefs would be at one place, 35 couples would tie knot that day, and to top that off, there'd be a lot of single girls there! So, like any single guy would've anticipated, I did too to find a girl to impress. All I needed was a little charm and lots of luck! Only later did it occur to me that it was Valentine's Day that day. Ah, ha! I remember now why Bala was sulking. He has (had) a crush on this girl and he's been way too chicken to confront her about her feelings. While the girl, even though she knows about his feelings, says she only sees him as a friend and stuff. I don't understand why do some people play the friend card always! Well, I am no one to talk about his love story. Uh, so, something happened between them and he was basically pissed at her that day. Of all the days, he chose Valentine's Day to be mad at the girl he likes. Dumbass. So, where was I? Ah, I was giving you reasons as to why I went to a stranger's wedding - So, apart from it being an unusual wedding, sight of beautiful girls in traditional attire was one of the motivations. But, the cherry on the top was, it was going to be a long drive. And
February 14th 2016: At around 9:45am - The Destination
What your obedient narrator expected was to find every one (at least, most) there to be very courteous, calm and respecting. People talking about soul, spiritual freedom and a whole bunch of 'God being within each and every one of us' kind of people, you know. Wouldn't it be nice to spend time around people like that for a little while? But, what I observed after reaching our destination was that it was a very different world all together. Even though every thing was well organized - Stalls were set up for everything from footwear to breakfast and lunch - We were expected to park vehicles and walk for about 800 mts and then locate the one hall, where the weddings would take place, amidst five different halls which were adjacent to each other. Someone should have arranged for vehicles at least for the elderly. Due to lack of such planning, I ended up driving few elderly ladies to the hall while boys in the car chose to walk. We thought we were being helpful.
A volunteer in his early 50s, along with a couple of gentlemen (both in 50s) asked us to drop three ladies at the wedding hall. To which we happily obliged. But soon, those gentlemen started being not so gentle! I and Bala were being treated as chauffeurs (Damn, my white shirt! Must have made me look like that) and eventually, I realized that it is not that difficult to find jerks... even at a place that seemed so intangible and otherworldly. I showed those mean people my other side and gave them a piece of my mind who instantly got back to calling us 'Sir'. Hypocrites. I am NOT proud of what I had done. But, sometimes, you just cannot take being treated like that (And I guess, Gabby's chats all along the drive had a thing or two to do with my outburst). But, I have to say, I soon felt very bad because of the silence the elderly women in the car, maintained, after that outburst of mine. Of the three, two of them were in their late 70s and the other must have been around 63-65 years, perhaps. Those two could barely walk. One of them even carried crutches. So, in order to make up for my rude behavior with those men at the time of pickup, I offered to carry their luggage (a basket full of fruits, dry fruits and what not, gift wrapped) till the hall entrance while Bala was too hurt to help me help them. Now when I look back, I think I shouldn't have tried to help them.
February 14th 2016: At around 10:15am - The Craziness
Why, you ask?! Well, for starters, that really large basket was very heavy. I mean, seriously! And secondly, those ladies who were slow, very slow, until then... suddenly vanished like Ninjas in that crowd. And amidst so many people, I could not find them. I wasn't allowed inside because I did not have a batch ID. Yes, the guests were given a batch ID with the wedding sequence number on it. The wedding we were supposed to attend was No. 7. After waiting for them to return at the entrance for few minutes, I thought I saw one of the men who requested me to help drop these ladies. And I did the one thing any normal (read that normally stupid) guy would do, I clapped and yelled "Uncle ji!"
Boy, did I make a mistake! Immediately the volunteers all around ganged up on me, shushing me. Everyone was speaking in such a low tone, you know. Clearly they were all pissed at me for acting "strange" by clapping and yelling like that and yet they were all calmly, in a low voice asking me to behave. How could they all control their emotions. Their behavior was only making me more confused. "Who is being strange - Me or them?!", I kept asking myself. After few minutes of this episode, I was asked to leave as I had been waiting for too long and staring at every saree-clad girl passing the entrance. (Oh, come on! I was trying to find those elderly women. So, may be, I had a glance at one or two passersby, accidentally). I was also told that wedding number 15 was in progress which meant the wedding I was supposed to attend was long over. So, I, reluctantly, handed that basket full of fruits to the volunteers and left. I wonder what happened to that basket. And if it hadn't reached its rightful owners then I wonder what those people thought of me?! Nothing noble, I am sure.
February 14th 2016: At around 10:45am - Half a raisin!
Later, I met Maddy and the others. The wedding we were supposed to attend was long over as I had anticipated. Everyone was out of the hall too. I noticed, people were just like I expected, most wearing white and were simple. Mostly men were, while women dressed up as normally as they would do to any wedding. Watching them there, it felt like we were invited to a Punjabi Shaadi... and I loved that! It was colorful. So, no complains. But, I missed the event! I was very curious to see at least one wedding. I had come too long and been through too much to miss that. And I, along with Bala, sneaked inside from this other entrance while Maddy and Gabby waited for us outside. Footwear had to be left outside the hall, so we did. We were given 'prashad' upon entrance. I don't know if it is 'prashad' for sure, I am just assuming it from the sheer amount of raisin given to me. I got half a raisin. Yes, you read that right. Half. A. Raisin!
But once I was past all that and got in, I stood at the back, looking at the stage and the giant screen next to the stage which was telecasting the live feed. I, fortunately, got a nice spot with a great view. You know, it is at that moment, caring reader, that I understood what's wrong with me.
February 14th 2016: At around 11:00am - The Revelation
I saw many couples laughing, smiling and happy. With their families all around them, sharing the couple's one of the most cherished moments of life with them. Oh, yes, I did see a few guys with the scared "Shit-I-got-married!" realization look too. But even they seemed happy a little while ago.
To be continued...
"Boy! This guy is gifted... The gift of gab." I said to myself while cautiously looking at the speedometer every once in a while... and simultaneously, acting as if I cared. But, in reality, I was screaming within "Enough about the Delhi Odd-Even rule, about those outer ring roads, about your "first" visit to Hyderabad, about love, about the choice of music "we" like and blah, blah, blah! Now, please let me listen to Ms. Mangeshkar's melodious 'Lag jaa gale' in peace." All this, mentally, of course... and with this woeful look on my face, waiting for Maddy to look at me and realize what a blunder he had made. However, Maddy wasn't here, at least, not mentally. He was peacefully staring into the space from the window of the front passenger seat, unperturbed. Sitting in his usual style - pushing the front seat completely backwards, occupying, what could be, enough leg room for two and reclining! Thankfully, our new Honda City is very spacious. It provides more than enough leg room for the passengers in the rear when people like Maddy sit in the front. Speaking of rear - Bala was sulking in the rear passenger seat exactly behind the driver (your caring narrator) while our guest who was diagonally opposite to me in the back, kept chatting! Now, why was he sulking?! Hmm, um, why can't I remember…? Was it because he did not get to sit in the front seat? No. Uh... oh, oh, his choice of song was not played?! No! Well, who cares! It is Bala, after all. The point is since he was sulking, he was pardoned and allowed to gladly gaze out of the window without paying attention to what our guest had to say – Making me the only person who was obliged to listen (Or act) while he chatted away. Mann! This guy does not even take a pause. "Lata ji, I miss you so much… now more than ever!" I constantly said to myself all along the drive.
February 14th 2016: Rewind a couple of hours, at 06:45am - The Back story
We all (Maddy, Bala and I) woke up early and started off at around 7am. We were joined by a friend of Maddy's. Let's call him 'Gabby', going forward. We were all on our way to a wedding. Maddy and Gabby are friends with the groom. So, Maddy insisted me to come along. It was a February wedding, I thought why not. More importantly, it was not an usual wedding. It was one of those Mass-marriages event happening on the occasion of Basant Uthsav. I was told that people all over India who follow 'Rama Chandra Mission' (was it?) would be there... Uh, I am least interested when it comes to politics and religion so forgive me for my lack of knowledge on this subject. In any case, the point is I'd get to see something unusual - People from different parts of India with same beliefs would be at one place, 35 couples would tie knot that day, and to top that off, there'd be a lot of single girls there! So, like any single guy would've anticipated, I did too to find a girl to impress. All I needed was a little charm and lots of luck! Only later did it occur to me that it was Valentine's Day that day. Ah, ha! I remember now why Bala was sulking. He has (had) a crush on this girl and he's been way too chicken to confront her about her feelings. While the girl, even though she knows about his feelings, says she only sees him as a friend and stuff. I don't understand why do some people play the friend card always! Well, I am no one to talk about his love story. Uh, so, something happened between them and he was basically pissed at her that day. Of all the days, he chose Valentine's Day to be mad at the girl he likes. Dumbass. So, where was I? Ah, I was giving you reasons as to why I went to a stranger's wedding - So, apart from it being an unusual wedding, sight of beautiful girls in traditional attire was one of the motivations. But, the cherry on the top was, it was going to be a long drive. And
February 14th 2016: At around 9:45am - The Destination
What your obedient narrator expected was to find every one (at least, most) there to be very courteous, calm and respecting. People talking about soul, spiritual freedom and a whole bunch of 'God being within each and every one of us' kind of people, you know. Wouldn't it be nice to spend time around people like that for a little while? But, what I observed after reaching our destination was that it was a very different world all together. Even though every thing was well organized - Stalls were set up for everything from footwear to breakfast and lunch - We were expected to park vehicles and walk for about 800 mts and then locate the one hall, where the weddings would take place, amidst five different halls which were adjacent to each other. Someone should have arranged for vehicles at least for the elderly. Due to lack of such planning, I ended up driving few elderly ladies to the hall while boys in the car chose to walk. We thought we were being helpful.
A volunteer in his early 50s, along with a couple of gentlemen (both in 50s) asked us to drop three ladies at the wedding hall. To which we happily obliged. But soon, those gentlemen started being not so gentle! I and Bala were being treated as chauffeurs (Damn, my white shirt! Must have made me look like that) and eventually, I realized that it is not that difficult to find jerks... even at a place that seemed so intangible and otherworldly. I showed those mean people my other side and gave them a piece of my mind who instantly got back to calling us 'Sir'. Hypocrites. I am NOT proud of what I had done. But, sometimes, you just cannot take being treated like that (And I guess, Gabby's chats all along the drive had a thing or two to do with my outburst). But, I have to say, I soon felt very bad because of the silence the elderly women in the car, maintained, after that outburst of mine. Of the three, two of them were in their late 70s and the other must have been around 63-65 years, perhaps. Those two could barely walk. One of them even carried crutches. So, in order to make up for my rude behavior with those men at the time of pickup, I offered to carry their luggage (a basket full of fruits, dry fruits and what not, gift wrapped) till the hall entrance while Bala was too hurt to help me help them. Now when I look back, I think I shouldn't have tried to help them.
February 14th 2016: At around 10:15am - The Craziness
Why, you ask?! Well, for starters, that really large basket was very heavy. I mean, seriously! And secondly, those ladies who were slow, very slow, until then... suddenly vanished like Ninjas in that crowd. And amidst so many people, I could not find them. I wasn't allowed inside because I did not have a batch ID. Yes, the guests were given a batch ID with the wedding sequence number on it. The wedding we were supposed to attend was No. 7. After waiting for them to return at the entrance for few minutes, I thought I saw one of the men who requested me to help drop these ladies. And I did the one thing any normal (read that normally stupid) guy would do, I clapped and yelled "Uncle ji!"
Boy, did I make a mistake! Immediately the volunteers all around ganged up on me, shushing me. Everyone was speaking in such a low tone, you know. Clearly they were all pissed at me for acting "strange" by clapping and yelling like that and yet they were all calmly, in a low voice asking me to behave. How could they all control their emotions. Their behavior was only making me more confused. "Who is being strange - Me or them?!", I kept asking myself. After few minutes of this episode, I was asked to leave as I had been waiting for too long and staring at every saree-clad girl passing the entrance. (Oh, come on! I was trying to find those elderly women. So, may be, I had a glance at one or two passersby, accidentally). I was also told that wedding number 15 was in progress which meant the wedding I was supposed to attend was long over. So, I, reluctantly, handed that basket full of fruits to the volunteers and left. I wonder what happened to that basket. And if it hadn't reached its rightful owners then I wonder what those people thought of me?! Nothing noble, I am sure.
February 14th 2016: At around 10:45am - Half a raisin!
Later, I met Maddy and the others. The wedding we were supposed to attend was long over as I had anticipated. Everyone was out of the hall too. I noticed, people were just like I expected, most wearing white and were simple. Mostly men were, while women dressed up as normally as they would do to any wedding. Watching them there, it felt like we were invited to a Punjabi Shaadi... and I loved that! It was colorful. So, no complains. But, I missed the event! I was very curious to see at least one wedding. I had come too long and been through too much to miss that. And I, along with Bala, sneaked inside from this other entrance while Maddy and Gabby waited for us outside. Footwear had to be left outside the hall, so we did. We were given 'prashad' upon entrance. I don't know if it is 'prashad' for sure, I am just assuming it from the sheer amount of raisin given to me. I got half a raisin. Yes, you read that right. Half. A. Raisin!
But once I was past all that and got in, I stood at the back, looking at the stage and the giant screen next to the stage which was telecasting the live feed. I, fortunately, got a nice spot with a great view. You know, it is at that moment, caring reader, that I understood what's wrong with me.
February 14th 2016: At around 11:00am - The Revelation
I saw many couples laughing, smiling and happy. With their families all around them, sharing the couple's one of the most cherished moments of life with them. Oh, yes, I did see a few guys with the scared "Shit-I-got-married!" realization look too. But even they seemed happy a little while ago.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment