Meri yaar ki shadi hai

This long weekend was one of the most exciting and important weekend ever, since I got to attend the most important day of my dear friend Rashmi. Yes, Saturday was her wedding with her long time beau :-). Me and V flew to Washington DC on Friday eve and went over to her appt for dinner. It was wonderful meeting and old friend after such a long time. After dinner we went to the hotel not wanting to keep them awake for long before the long day ahead of them.

The next day me and V got up real late. We quickly got ready for the marriage and got the directions to go to the parlor where Rash was getting ready. Being the 'Ladki wale' we were supposed to accompany the bride to the temple. But, as luck would have it, we got lost and it was getting late so finally decided to go to the temple directly. Again after a few wrong turns we safely arrived at the temple. I realized that was the first time I visited any temple since coming to the US. Thanks Rash, atleast coz of you we both got to get blessings together! Soon, the bride arrived followed a few moments later by the groom. Both were looking great and the couple looked a perfect match. The marriage started and the fun began.

Now, I have hardly attended marriages in my lifetime. This was infact the 4th marriage that I have ever attended (that which I remember since childhood). I however realized that this was indeed an American desi marriage. Everything was short and simple. I can commend my friend to have managed and arranged everything so well. The most interesting part of the entire ceremony was the punditji. He was explaining each ritual and also pulling the groom's leg in that process. While explaining, he was giving reference to Ramayana and Mahabharata saying 'aap logo ne TV mein dekha hoga':-). And the fun part was how while saying the mantras, the punditji was saying "America deshe, Virginia kshetre, so and o grame...". That had me almost in splits.

The ceremony completed peacefully with no objections from anyone whatsoever and the newlyweds were showered with blessings and wishes from everyone present. By then the rats in my stomach had started warming up and I was looking forward to the dinner. Most of the guests moved on to the reception hall, while the bride and the groom and few others took a stop to change into more comfortable outfits. The reception hall was located in the midst of a quaint little 'mall' which lay by and beautiful lake. While waiting for the newlyweds to arrive, few of us took a stroll by the lake and enjoyed the serene beauty. By the time we returned back to the hall, the rats in my stomach were running all over making weird noises.

After some more wait, the couple-of-the-day finally arrived and everyone heaved a sigh of relief not being able to contain their hunger any longer :-). After waiting for a polite amount of time, all the guests attacked at the snacks immediately followed by the food. The food was yummy...desi food after all :-).

After the food, the dhoom dhamaka started with dancing and fun. The 'wilder' crowd started dancing and gradually started pulling in the more 'shy-er' ones like me in. After seeing everyone was on the dance floor, I too had to join in. The next hour or so, we had a fun time, dancing and even playing games. Finally, it was time to call it a night.

Rashmi, I know you have been waiting for me to put up this post. I don't think I have given a full justice to it, but I hope you like my point of view :-). Wanna thank you for involving me & V in your day. We both had a lovely time. Wish you and Anupam a very happy, loving, colorful, successful and exciting married life :-)