Start of a beautiful story !

Oh Yes. My bestest friend is joining the club soon.  He too got engaged last week and this was the first wedding event I attended after my wedding last month. I have no words to describe on how elated and happy I am for him. I flipped open the calendar, which I update, quite regularly and blocked the dates, booked travel tickets well before the engagement. How could I miss his big day ??!! I eagerly waited for the day to come. Finally the day had come ! I boarded the train to his hometown. The train would stop in the station only for 2 minutes. I never slept in the train as I was scared of missing the station. After getting down in the station, it was 45 minutes of bus journey again to his town. He came to the bus stand to pick me up and we straight went to a tea shop to have a hot tea. Take my words. A cup of tea with your best friend would always restore your normality. Tea with your best friend is a gift from God!  If you are cold, it will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you. I was given a nice room to sleep for a while and was asked to come home after I am fresh.

It was 9 in the morning ! I got ready and went straight to his home. His family took me in and treated me like their own. They made me feel like I had a place in a family just as crazy and a home just as cozy as mine.  Not even once I had a feeling of going to their home for the first time. I could be as normal as I always would be. They even prepared my favorite dishes for the breakfast. I could help them in their preparation for the engagement, play with the kid at home. I thoroughly enjoyed being there at his home. 

It was 3pm – Time to leave to his village for the function. He had already told about his village and I was all excited to go to a village. Having born and brought up in a city, going to a village is always something that excites me. We all started from his home in a car to his village. What impressed me was the way he narrated the village! It sent visuals all across my mind. I could almost imagine every scene of what he narrated. I was eager to see everything by myself in the village. As I got married only a month back, I had a fair idea of what would happen in  an engagement. I  was dreaming of how he would be  expected by one and all and how his in-laws would be decked up in the best of their dresses -- with a lot of jaris and borders and jewels and how they would play the nadaswaram – Indian shenoy. I had already imagined the whole scene. I kept teasing him all the way. Our car entered the village and my friend showed the house of the bride. There were a lot of surprises awaiting me in the venue. 

In our culture, marriage symbolizes not just the sacred union of two individuals, but of the coming together of two families and extended families as well. I could see this in true spirits for the first time. The house had a small decoration in its entrance. It was not how I imagined. It was a pleasant surprise; Something that I never expected; Something I will cherish and never forget for life. In contrast with how things work in a city, the engagement was held in completely different set up and ambience. There was no silk saree clad women, no one talking about USA stories, no nadaswaram, no channel music. Their dialect and language slang was so different and awesome ! Everyone was dressed as how they would be every day. Importance was not given to the extravaganza, but to the real meaning of the function. The whole village worked for the function and there were no event organizer. Uncles were responsible for electrical  connections, kids were responsible for inviting people from every house of the village, ladies together decorated the bride. The food that was cooked in the courtyard did not have much varieties, but it was deliciously cooked and served with a lot of love and affection. There were flowers but no deodorants, there were bright faces but no facial make-ups. It was a festival of the village and not a function in one of the families. It was a get together for two families and there was no ego. 

Serene and clear environment surrounded by green orchids and lush crop fields, beautiful muddy roads, well knit community of people who help and solve each other’s problems, blossoming flowers, fragrant air, small houses with big courtyards, a horizon with no multi-storey buildings in sight, tall trees covering the sky as a canopy—The charm of nature justified the remark of famous English poet Cowper that “God made the country and man-made town”

I helped my friend dress up for his engagement and the girl was all in glitters. I have heard people saying how lucky men are. They just get to wear their clothes and start off. All they do after that is to wait for the girl. But the scenario was different here. She got ready first. Hero was late. Yeah.. The chief guests are always late. Do you even know how difficult it was for him to catch a glimpse of her? Phew! With all the hungama, these two love birds were posing for photographs, as the photographer was asking them to give strange poses. My friend, the male bird was blushing, feeling shy and his love bird was bold. Oh… The reverse happened in my engagement four months back ! And the photographer was scolding me for distracting and teasing my friend during the photo session. But how could I miss the opportunity that comes once in life time ??  I had made use of the chance to the fullest. 

It was 9:30 pm at night and all the villages gathered in the small room after their dinner to make this engagement official. Ahh.. Again… It was a great surprise. In cities, the functions start sharp by 6 pm like how the tatkal booking starts at 10:am in IRCTC website. ( Everyone has to go home !! Traffic Jam L)Here people had a good time enjoying and talking with each other. They never cared about anything except living the moment. They were not living a preprogrammed timed ROBO life like me and others in the city. The bride and the groom were made to sit together, the bride was presented with new dress and she had to come back after the costume change over and the hero had to wait. My friend is an epitome of patience. The innocence in his face, would make anyone adore his personality! 

She came back in the new dress; they exchanged garlands and the rings. His gaze froze and his lips curled; to reveal a crooked smile – His trademark smile ! I felt so happy seeing him blush ! It was the day he entered a bond of togetherness, a promise meant to be kept for life, It was the day of elaborate elegance, the day he said yes to her officially ! The whole village queued up to wish him and her and they had to fall on everyone’s feet to seek blessings. He did not go to gym for a week and need not go for next two weeks. He did a week’s abs exercise in just a day. The function got over by 12:00 am (theoretically- midnight- so, the next day). And the story does not end here. We all sat in front of the house and I was telling stories about him and our friendship to all their relative, to the bride’s family till 1:30 am. I was never treated like a friend but as a brother, as his family member. His parents were like my parents – so kind;  his brother and sister in law were like mine – friendly and charming. His nephew called me as Bhabai 

After all fun, we started from there by 1:45 am back to his home. I was damn tired and the driver in the car played a old song (Ah devudu varamiste ne ninne korukunta le) I kept talking and teasing my friend sitting next to me in the car. My treasured memory of this travel is the recollection of sitting next to him. I do not remember when I slept in the car; He woke me up when we reached his home. I missed my return train and had to stay overnight in his home ! Myself and my friend spoke and spoke and spoke lying next to each other and God knows when I dozed off. I got up late in the morning, had breakfast at his home and started back to Chennai

How lucky the bride is ! She will be coming to a home away from home ! 

I am all prepared to go with him for wedding shopping, to tease him for the next few days till he gets married, to make him cry, to get as many treats as possible, to attend his wedding with my parents and wife. This is just a strong beginning to a wonderful quest and I am sure that this journey of togetherness will joyfully be blessed.