Marry go round

Taking a long, hard look at the manner in which marriages are organised these days, there will seem little or no difference among any of them. Whether it8217;s a Bengali couple tying the knot or a Marwari bride and groom taking the vows of fidelity, the Indian wedding extravaganza, irrespective of community or caste affiliations, seems to be scripted by the same hand.

From sangeet and mehendi ceremonies to dance and drama events, the need for pomp and show cuts across race and religious divides, culminating in one long, elaborate affair, spreads over several days. As Suman Aswale puts it, 8220;I am a Maharashtrian and so is my husband. But that didn8217;t stop us from going in for a full-on Punjabi wedding, held in the course of four days. It8217;s just so much a part of our lives these days, that it8217;s impossible to not be affected by it.8221;

For Aripriya Bose, her long-cherished dream was to get married the Bollywood style, complete with band-baaja and lots of fun and frolic. So, when she tied the knot earlier this year, it was like living her dream, even though it was not quite to her Bengali parents8217; liking. 8220;I just had to get married this way. There was no way I was going to be happy with a conventional Bengali wedding,8221; she says.

While the Punjabi style of matrimony is getting popular with one and all, Punjabis are themselves going in for Bollywood-style marriages.

As 76-year-old Kesar Kaur Rajpal, grandmother of to-be-bride Sonia Rajpal, says, 8220;We used to have a different kind of wedding in our times. It was more about observing rituals than socialising. Today, it8217;s the other way round. My baraat stayed for over two days. We followed each ritual strictly. During those days, we used to distribute sheera and luchiyan among all our neighbours and relatives- we never knew of Chinese or Thai cuisine. We never had mehendi or sangeet event. Rather, the functions began one month prior to the actual wedding ceremony.8221;

Kaur adds, 8220;No matter how affluent one was, it was a custom to give only two and half pair of clothes to their daughter. And the food used to be rich, authentic Punjabi stuff. Today, people serve Continental food and several rituals have been omitted for their convenience.8221;

However, Sonia Rajpal, Kesar Kaur8217;s granddaughter, prefers the modern day wedding to the traditional one. 8220;With due respect to all the rituals, I find it more convenient to get married in the style of today. Everybody is acquainted with the Bollywood style of wedding and so, can relate to each and every ritual. Unlike in the past, when the bride and groom were exhausted after going through innumerable rituals, today they have enough time on hand and this helps them look their best on the special day,8221; she says. 8220;And call it an obligation or a matter of choice, but we have to serve guests the cuisine which is in demand,8221; she adds.

Vijayant and Neha Agarwal feel it is much better to organise a simple wedding. 8220;Doing away with rituals is okay but things like a Bachelors8217; Party or cocktails cannot be ignored. So, we had to organise all that,8221; says the couple.

New-age weddings
Mehendi
Sangeet
Cocktails
Bachelors8217; party