TELUGU WEDDING part 3- THE MAIN EVENT

The south west monsoon had made its advent exactly on schedule, probably for the first time in my living memory. Each year they would reluctantly make mild advances and cool the summer heat only by July. This time they were not only corporeally punctual but also looked vituperative with boisterous winds and rash showers. The village of Repalle encountered this monsoon with a sense of surprise. The wedding home of ours was nearing perfection on the big day. Plastering, whitewashing the walls marked with greenish moss, the making of thatched Pandiri made of Palm leaves- a quintessential element of Telugu wedding, glowing lights illuminating the dark made our ancestral dwelling, a marriage home. Banners were put up; carpets were laid, sound systems arranged, and a buzz of the activity by relatives all around. All this set the tone of matrimonial frenzy in our family especially me. After all it was my wedding.

I could not sleep the night before the wedding. My Bride was waiting in a ‘vidithi gruham’- the house where marriage parties are accommodated few houses away from ours and I believe she also would have felt the same. By 3:30 on the big day, I was up and flummoxed at the skies. No star was twinkling and no moon greeted me indicating that the pregnant clouds were hovering over us like a group of Foxes encircling a vulnerable prey. The horizon was gradually filling with light and rain drops slowly began to drench the lush Pandiri. My dad was nodding in discouragement wondering how he would be able to feed the 1500 guests invited. Moreover, the grandeur of the celebration would be dissipated by the wet weather. I got on to my knees and prayed. There was no remarkable change in the skies. I thought the ceremonies of humans were of no concern to the celestial arrangements. But I was wrong.

At 8:00 AM, at the time when the final Nalugu was to be organized, the rain stopped. I was in my casual shorts and vests when there was a sudden rise in the volume of the orchestra. I came out to see the scene. My seniors in college and members of the fellowship along with few of my relatives were accompanying the Bride. It was a strange sight. Alice (my wife) was under an umbrella which in turn was overshadowed by a rectangular bed sheet held by four church elders in four corners. The band was in the front of this group attracting the looks of strangers on the road. Everyone would try to find the bride from the party trudging along to the Groom’s house. In ten minutes both of us, the Bride and the Groom were in our Nalugu dress and the whole ordeal about which I wrote previously ensued for the last time. We had to bath individually (with clothes, obviously) in public to our embarrassment.

Time was 11:00 and everyone around were being scuttled to the church. I, in my three piece suit, was taken in a car to the church which was a walking distance from our home. As I was on my way, a duo of photographer and videographer put me to a pictorial onslaught, asking me to pose in a million ways. I reached the church. The pastors, three in number in their immaculate cassocks took me to the first pew of the church singing hymns. In few moments, Alice arrived in a veil that fell freely and graciously, which was caressed by her sisters. The pastors began the ceremony with a prayer. Then I do not remember what exactly happened. Please don’t get shocked by my confession. The anxiety I was suffering from, did blurred my mind of the proceedings. I think the most crucial moments in life, those moments that matter the most in our lives, those whose implications you do not comprehend, are often associated with poor memories. So was this moment. There was a message after the prayer. It was profound and impressive. The Pastor deftly articulated the fact that marriage was a mystery, magic and a model.

 It was followed by the hilarious part of the wedding. Both of us had to kneel in the The Most Holy place as the pastors blessed us. They asked us to make vows in Telugu. In the tide of anxiety I misplaced the pronouns in native language triggering a wave of laughter.( Literally translated, I said ‘I Alice Hepzibah’ when I had to say ‘you Alice Hepzibah’). The pastor then handed me over the Taali, the yellow thread with a heart shaped pendant to tie it around Alice’s neck with three knots. Now this is the most celebrated and widely observed custom in Telugu wedding. Movies have been made, TV serials have been produced, books have been written and world views have been shaped around this Taali. You can ask a kindergarten student how many knots have to tied with the Taali in Andhra and you will get a bang on answer. I was asked to make a vow and tie the knot at the same time. That was the beginning of multi-tasking of married life. Rings were exchanged and the ceremony ended.

Few of the guests greeted us in the church before we were taken to a community hall where the feast was arranged. Few guests had already finished their lunch before we had arrived. Six long rows of tables were put where invitees would sit and have food as others would simultaneously have a buffet outside thanks to the friendly weather by then. The aroma of Mutton and fried rice filled the hall. We had to do the boring, but important job, of wishing the relatives while others had a tasty lunch. At 3:30 pm the last of the guests had their food and we were allowed to have ours. We were taken back to our home. Before we could enter another Telugu tradition had to be followed. The bride and the groom will have to give a gift to the sisters of the home and utter their mutual names as singers would showcase their folk tunes. It was good fun as we would strike a compromise between what we could give and what they wanted. That was the official end of the main event.

If there is one word I can use to describe a Telugu wedding it is Happiness. The Bride and Groom, the family, relatives, invitees- is all one bunch of happy beings. A new family has started. A new institution has been entered into. My prayer would be that this happiness will last for life and the passion, novelty, the glitz and love should extend into everyday of our married lives. I thank everyone who has blessed us directly and otherwise. The metamorphosis of two single beings into a family in this society will take its time with some adjustments and mistakes. But with friends and families like you around, it will be surely easier.