Maloo Wedding

My son got married recently.  The marriage was held in Chennai.  It was an one-day do.  Or so it would seem.  But no, it actually was not. It was a five-day marriage, almost just like in old days. How so, you may ask. Well, here is the new model of the South Indian Marriage.  It was a five day marriage spread over six weeks. Yes, over six weeks. The proceedings started with our family going over to Lakshmi, my daughter-in-law, ‘s family to formally ask for her hand in marriage to my son.  Just a couple of hours, about 20 of us in all, their and our family members, the closest group, but half a day in the event. But we won’t count this event toward the number of days of the marriage, ok.  A bit of a hiatus after that, with all of us getting into a frenzy of preparations. Dates for the marriage, and the Vaideekam part of the marriage were looked into by the bridegroom’s side, the marriage hall blocked,  the catering, flower arrangements, the music and concert, the Medai arrangement and a zillion other things by the bride’s family, shopping madly by all and so on.  Then we had the  Nischayathartham, (first day of the marriage) the formal engagement function. Half a day on that, with close relatives and friends.  This was followed by another day for  the Pandakaal and Viratham  (second day of the marriage) functions.  Close relatives and friends.  Breakfast and lunch was served. Then an evening of Cocktails, (third of the marriage)- a get together of the friends of the bridal couple- no oldies in this meet. The ‘’children’’ danced their choreographed numbers and had fun. (We got to see the videos and photos later).  The next day,  we had the Mehandi (fourth day of the marriage) function.  All the women in the family were present respelendent in their silks and tussars and jewellery and mogra venees. We had mehandi put on our palms, ate a lot of chaat items and dispersed. The next day, was the  day of the Marriage (fifth and final day of the marriage). Started early in the morning and by three in the afternoon, we were done. Saashveethamananna Kalyanam, with nothing left out......We included the Madi Kattudal soon after the Maapillai Azhappu. the Mappilai Azhappu, Madi kattudal, Bhojanam, Kasi Yatirai, Maalai Matrudal, Oonjal, the Kankanam Anivithal,  the Kanya Danam, the Panigrahanam, the Mangalya Dharanam, Sapta Padi, Metti Anivithal, Pori idudhal, Homam, Vilayadal, Oonjal, Grihapravesam. All the friends of the family, colleagues included, were invited to the marriage. Breakfast was served; Tea, coffee and Fruit Juice flowed freely, followed by a more-than-the-usual- kalyanasaapadu which was sumptousness catered by  Arusuvai Natarajan who  outdid themselves. The senses were treated to the most melodious flute recital by the prodigy  J.A.Jayanth.  Came three o’çlock and we had emptied the hall of our presence and were back in our homes, relaxing. We did not have a reception. And in retrospect mighty glad we are too. I do know that bridal couples in our places do it all the time- standing for four hours receiving guests, smiling non stop, posing for videos and photos with people they haven’t met before and won't probably meet again. And lets face it, for the main actors in the events, such as the parents, immediate family and the couple, the marriage passes in a daze anyway, we are completely spaced out and we “see” marriage later, through the medium of the video, right? This model worked very well for us. It was quite relaxing; of course, the stress and tension of organizing was there. But it did go off very well, without much ado. So many people made this possible. Thanks. Thank you.