They trudged back from the dining hall...tired after all the hopping around...Indian weddings are elaborate processes like 18th century dining customs the English had...
A two day wedding meant family pouring in from all over the country and abroad. It meant going back to the dorms where you rub shoulders with distant aunts and cousins you would never again see in flesh and blood...well..not till the next wedding in the family anyway...
Sleep is elusive and people try to catch up on missed out years in the few short hours to spare....
Its a place for the young to get juicy glimpses of their stern elders easy going past...then there are those pent up emotions of anger, sadness or envy that a few mischief mongers flame for a few moments of pleasure...while the immediate family of the bride or groom have minor heart attacks...
On that particular evening...the rooms were full and the youngsters rebelled (including the bride's sister and brother in law)....they wanted their privacy and the warmth of the home beds....
Off they went in their glittering silks sarees and gold jewellery that could light up the roads on their own. Some smart elders not needed for the pre-dawn ceremony (mostly men) choose to go home to Uncle's den...little did they know what the following morning would bring...
The next days clothes were stuffed in small bags, the vanity kit being the most important...how could we let millions of photos go waste without some face-paint...
The bungalow was just as had been left in the afternoon...no forced entry....calm and quiet...the cars parked, the gates locked securely....they drifted off to sleep in batches over the next hour or two...
trink....trink...beep beep...the various watch alarms went...woke up groggy one eyed, the other tightly shut...damn its was 3.30 a.m already...we had to be back at the hall by 6 a.m atleast, if we didn't want to miss out important ceremonies not to forget the lectures from parents for oversleeping on a special day...
No coffee till the great dining meant a few irritated faces...not to mention that a couple had their stomachs grumbling from the heavy feast of the previous evening.
It was time to take turns to bathe and dress up....18 people and 4 bathrooms...do the maths...the elder ones are usually the luckiest. Age and the fact that most ceremonies require their participation or blessing meant that they had a head start always...
The ladies and girls in the rooms upstairs were busy admiring each other selections and discussing make overs and some sharing pooled resources...when Rajesh Anna* (*elder brother) bangs on the doors and announces "no showers please"....great...
No one had remembered/come back to turn on the motor the previous evening which meant that the daily supply of water didn't get through....
A check of the underground tank showed water level at less than half the usual limit...
Fine with just 11 people left to go as a couple of guys happily postponing the clean up exercise for an hour of extra sleep....the situation was manageable or so we thought...
Halfway through, shrieks heard from the upper level bathrooms....the water flow had stopped...followed by more frantic ranting from elder men downstairs...."where are the extra soap bars?"
All eye turned to the bride's sister after all it was her parents home...
She went down with a shrug and "no problem"...only to come back red-faced...the store room was locked and the keys safe in her mom's handbag back "there"....
It was the only day in our history when the "beauty/skin conscious" among us were held in esteem rather than teased by the men...
Its was our face washes that saved the day....We gathered in all the ones we could find on person....Pallavi bhabhi*(cousin brother's wife) being the sweetest, offering two of her big imported (meaning expensive, famous cosmetic brand....even after the liberalisation of the economy in the early 90's, shopping abroad is still a thrilling/exotic activity) tubes of face washes.
The contents were generously dumped into eagerly waiting buckets till a nice soapy foam built up was realised....We all had a ingenious version of tub baths that day...
Not enough but atleast we wouldn't be stinking underneath all the bling...
The sorry, exhausted lot finally left the premises at 6.30 a.m reaching an hour late....did I mention that someone forget to to send the cars back and we, half a dozen girls twiddled our thumbs, swear words that would make guys cringe, being traded back and forth.
The rest of the day was largely uneventful if one overlooks the members from the groom's side with their smart aleck acts...I mean what good is an Indian wedding (or any wedding for that matter) if the groom's parents don't throw a tantrum or two?...with furious nods and nudges from their siblings...
After the reception when Uncle asked casually if we wanted the house keys again....we still had the "inviting the newly-weds and their extended family for lunch" ceremony the next morning.... he was shocked with the collective screams of "No, not again!!!".....
(This was based on a wedding of one of my dearest cousins....names changed for obvious reasons....the picture is from my Brother's wedding though...)
