Despite the
pandemic restrictions and alert and alarming Nivar cyclone, the last week's
wedding of my brother went on well and trouble-free as along. What we
anticipated wasn’t far disappointing, but instead, reversed in order of what we
planned.
We headed to
the wedding hall earlier than we planned as we had no idea when the cyclone
would hit hard or reach its extreme, so we informed the cook to prepare lunch
for us, and the bride’s family too
reached the hall by the afternoon for the evening reception. There’s a custom that
the bride should be invited only from the temple rather than going straight to
the wedding hall had been broken down by the Nivar cyclone.
The day the reception and wedding was surrounded by gusty winds and
pattering rain, agree to blow along the resonating Nadhaswaram and Thavil – our
traditional music instrument used in weddings and any auspicious functions. Our
family friend Selvam and his team of instrumentalists hit the notch in their
playback instruments. Perhaps because this’s a wedding everyone looked out for
for a very long time, and the enthusiasm hasn’t left him alone.
Everything went on planning or timing we set on other than fewer
disappointments. We anticipated more people for the reception and less for the
marriage, but the cyclone kept the twist, thereby reversing the order. The
threatening Nivar cyclone had kept away many people from attending the evening reception
as many don’t want to take a risk paid a visit to the morning wedding. But
there weren’t people up to our expectation, and we understand the situation
wasn’t favorable to us and there’s a waste of food for about 200.
Glad we decided to advance going to the wedding hall and halted there
for the night, instead of coming home and return in the morning, like how we
planned first. Sure it would be a bad
idea to execute our former plan in the gusty wind and rain, and our stay at the
wedding hall was comfortable too. The room allotted for us on the ground floor
was spacious with two king-size beds, reminding the cottages we hire during our
travel, was convenient to stay and watch
every aspect of the wedding.
The night wasn’t easily forgettable apart from the gusty wind and
rain blasting outside, there’s something disturbed the sleep, and it was a cold
night that didn’t allow us to use to twin a/c in the room. The bride and the
groom looked fair at their wedding/reception outfits and makeups what didn’t go
right at the engagement. After the
wedding, the couple went to Tirupati to fulfill the request from the bride’s
side.
I wore the mask thoroughly at the wedding, while many didn’t care a
bit. I keep insisting my father wear the mask. But during the rituals, it goes
off. I keep the mask away only when I
got to pose for a photo!
We were worried about conducting the marriage in the pandemic
period, but the cyclone steered the wheel differently. We stayed at the wedding
hall till everyone leaves and we moved out only after loading the things the
bride brings home as Seeru (gifts from her parents) in the mini-truck, and we
also made sure that we didn't miss anything. We are almost content with the
happenings at the wedding, and the couple is happy, and the sis-in-law is quite
calm and familiar to practice though we haven’t met before. And everyone had
our part of smiles through the event.
A group photo of our beloved families after the wedding session and the one standing 2nd from the right (with a big mustache) is our uncle who passed two nights ago in a heart attack.
