Weddings!

When you have two weddings in quick sucession in the family, then your life becomes a mad whirl of saree buying, blouse stitching, parlour visiting and jewellery matching. If both the weddings are out of town and you are squeezing in a conference in between, resigning your job and orchestrating a trans-continental move, then your life is on steroids.

Roshni, my younger sister got married on the 30^th of January in a traditional Tamil Iyer ceremony. The festivities started   on the 28^th with a cocktail party, followed by the Nitchyathartam or engagement on the 29^th and the wedding on the 30^th. 

Who shines brighter ?

Roshni’s wedding was a far cry from mine because the financial strain was much less. At my wedding every saree and beauty parlour visit was budgeted and accounted for. I remember long discussions over Roshnis sangeet lehenga which cost 5000 Rs at that time. This time you had Appa swanking around like a nouve riche Russian splashing out on hotel rooms and chauffeured taxis. Good times.

Necessary audience participation to maintain interest

Her wedding photos are absolutely sensational because she had two full time professional photographers covering all events as well as a horde of wannabe friends with SLRs and zoom lenses. One of her best friends, Khushi, was wonderfully focussed on documenting every moment of all three days. Sometimes you couldn’t see the homam smoke for the paparazzi !

Introducing the bride and groom

Rahuls wedding was a much more intimate affair. While Roshnis wedding had a predominantly firang flair to it thanks to her and Balajis classmates from Columbia University and Oxford respectively. Rahuls wedding party consisted chiefly of close relatives which meant he had an exceptionally pretty baraat. And Vihaan danced. At the sangeet, at the baraat, and everytime the music played in between. He is definitely over compensating  for parents with two left feet. 

All dressed up

The sangeet at home

When the bridegroom is really happy to get married

Vihaan had an absolutely great time with his cousin Sahil running around, throwing things and taking his first steps towards turning into a little boy tornado. I need to find him more kids his age to play with.

Learning to be a boy

And of course, the wedding