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Journalism of Courage
Evidently a lot of planning, along with a nouveau riche king8217;s ransom in wealth, had gone into the incredible display that marked the fourth and final day of 8216;the wedding celebration of the decade8217; in our colony. It was the wedding day itself.
My mind flashed back to the day before. The 8216;theme8217; of the wedding, had been 8216;the laid-back beauty of rural India8217;. The day before we had witnessed the erection of small designer huts, elegantly holding their ground in the pompous finery that surrounded them. A 100 kw generator thundered outside, vying for attention with the celebrity singers.
It was the wedding to beat all weddings, raved the nouveau riche on the lower rungs to super-nouveau-riche-dom.
8216;8216;So ethnic and chic,8217;8217; raved the socialites. 8216;8216;Especially that idea of having the blue sky for a roof. An authentic rural experience, to be sure!8217;8217;
It was possibly the first time one looked up at the sky with feet if-not-quite-firmly rooted on the plushest of carpets.
I wondered at the thoughts that might be passing through the minds of the artisans as they had erected the 8216;authentic designer huts8217; on man-made carpets. Frankly, they seemed too overworked to ponder upon such ironies.
The 8216;one-day-huts8217; then made way for even swankier sets for the Wedding Day. The theme, bordered on the 8216;Mughlai-rural8217;, with thrones for the bride and bridegroom, befitting in design and grandeur those of our erstwhile Mughal emperors. They glittered under surprised sky! Yes, the clear, blue sky was chosen again for the open-air 8216;durbar8217;.
Not all the meticulous planning, however, had considered the possibility of a sudden fluctuation in the mood of the winter sky. It seemed, suddenly, unpredictably, to break into an unprecedented downpour even before the baraat had had time to say, 8216;8216;How ethnic and chic!8217;8217; As the sky rained hysterically, all hell broke loose. Agitated ladies, dripping diamonds and water, ran helter-skelter losing their tuxedoed spouses in the chaos.
The bride8217;s relatives were trying, literally, to protect the drenched delicacies with their bodies. They looked strikingly human and vulnerable. So did the bridegroom8217;s people, as they huddled up in their cars and makeshift shelters. The sight was too sad for anyone to pass any judgment or pronounce,8216;8216;Don8217;t take God for granted.8217;8217;
But as we walked home, the sight of this lavish paraphernalia 8212; worth at least a crore now swept away into muddy waters 8212; was still fresh in the mind. Then somebody chuckled wickedly above the din, 8216;8216;If they had had yesterday8217;s 8216;hut-decor8217; today, at least they would have gotten to eat something like the real poor!8217;8217;
