The marriage...

As you might know... I got married on Nov 6th to the love of my life... my dearest.. anuja... The days building up to our marriage were really hecitc. I was getting ready to fly to India in the midst of uncertainty surrounding my job and my status in the US... anuja was getting ready to marry me knowing my situation. I dont have words to explain how well anuja handled the situation. Thank you so much dear..
As days progressed and the wedding day was nearing, things went from worse to better and then to the best. I got an excellent job offer and took it right away. I was so happy and so overjoyed that I could not believe that this had happened. After so many days of stress and uncertainty about the future, things finally had started settling. I felt that my luck was changing towards the good side and my dear was proving to be my lady luck...
Just getting the job offer was not good since there were so many things to be done after. My anxiety was building up as I was going to step into new horizons of my life with my dearest. However for that to go smoothly there were many things that needed to happen. That list of things and the their timing were like neck to neck. If anything went wrong it would have been real sad. However, I took care of the work needed for the transition and started my journey towards India.
Right from the day I reached India to the day I flew back to the US and then moved on to the new job it has been a race and a rollercoaster ride for both of us. I met anuja on the morning of arrival day, after almost 11 months of wait and for how long.. for a few hours and then had to drop her to the station so that she could go to sangli... I had not even rested a bit but the thought of meeting anuja after such a long and a tough separation was keeping me awake inspite of the jet lag. We just could spend some time with each other and then I sent her off to her native place. The next few days were like get set go for me.. Wake up, get ready eat and go shop. I bought my wedding clothes in a day.. would you believe it. Things went well and the day before the wedding arrived. We had hired some buses to take us over to sangli where the marriage was going to take place. The bus travel to sangli with my family was a blast and I enjoyed it to the fullest. We joked around, we sang, we teased and all had a lot of fun. We had taken some idlis and some good old chai with us. Idli with chatni and tea on the top of it was just great. We reached sangli late and then the wedding proceedings began. I soon I stepped out of the bus, Amol my brother in law welcomed me and took me towards the wedding hall, hand in hand :) great experience. All this was being filmed and with flash lights on us. Felt good but also funny sometimes as this was a first. Then at the entrance all the rituals took place and I was smiling like a politician although my smile was for real broad. All the ambience made me so happy, except for one thing I was sweating profusely.. Everybody was feeling cold but not me.. This sweating troubled me during the entire marriage as for every photo i had to take the handkerchief out wipe my face and forehead.
Then I with my family settled down in the suite provided. The wedding hall was awesome!!!. Nice backdrop of farms, green all around, spacious, clean and comfortable. Really nice.. Could not go to sleep easily, not because of the wedding thoughts, just because it was not the usual place for me. My wife says I can sleep in 2 secs and I guess shes right. I can sleep anywhere and everywhere , anytime and alltime.. I think I have slept like 16 hours in a day once just getting up for food and water. Let me get back to point. So from the night before wedding to the day of wedding.
It was a bright sunny day. (thank god because if it had rained it could have been a fiasco of sorts) Got some good morning tea and got ready for the "haldi". "Haldi" is wear you annoint turmeric onto the bride and the bridegroom. But before that we did a sort of musical chairs. Although instead of chair it was something we call "paat" in marathi. Everbody circled the "paat" and sprinkled water on it. I could not understand why we were watering the "paat" on which we were going to sit. It was OK for everybody else since I was the only one who was wearing a thin salwar.(i guess thats what its called). My wet behind would not have made a good scene. Alas, we sat on the "paat" with feet in front. Everybody applied the turmeric and in a matter of moments we were all yellow. Anuja looked really beautiful with the yellow turmeric on her face. I was as usual making faces for the camera. Then we were hurried into changing as the big mahurat was approaching and my marriage procession (warat or barat) was yet to happen. So went right back to the suite changed into the wedding sherwani (which is another story although nice one as I did look good in it and my wife also says so!!! so no doubts about it). Got ready. I was adorning a nice looking sherwani with a pheta and mozadi. Then started the humurous photo session. The instructions of the photographer are so ridiculous sometimes. You will know when you go through it. Turn your head, look side ways, bend a bit , raise your hand, smile not just smile but show your teeth. and all that with a bright light falling on your eyes as if you were directly looking at the sun. And as I mentioned before adding to that I was sweating, like hell. But the photos came out real good.
Then we proceeded towards our shahi sawari i would say. the horse!!!. I have never been scared of animals even the fierce ones which bite (for example our pet dog:) ) but sitting on a horse with zero experience and your life at the mercy of the owner of the horse. Adding to that was the fact that wearing the sherwani was like wearing a jumpsuit that restricted your mobility and your reactions. I was just hoping that the ghodi (horse) does not take off with me or I would be as people say in a for ride of a lifetime ( isnt that what marriage is?? a ride of a lifetime). So then my barat progressed onto one of the narrowest roads and with all the traffic I was getting scared like hell. For a brief time it was just me and the horse(with its owner ofcourse) but everybody else was in front dancing to the music and enjoying. I was waiting for my turn. Everybody around me knows that I am sucker for dancing. I like to dance and enjoy when dancing. So when we returned to the wedding hall, I got down to business. Took my usual pose before unleashing a mixture of bollywood, ganpati dance steps. I think the people from anujas side would have been surprised that the bridegroom danced. Thats a moment that I will remember for a lifetime. I always wanted to enjoy my marriage and also the fact that I was marrying anuja.. the best for me.. That did reflect in my dance and then we stopped. Again sweat over my face. quickly wiped it off and then rearragned my sherwani a bit and also the pheta with the odhni and back to the dashing dulha posing for the camera. Then as we made our way to the stage the camera followed. It was like watching a balaji production serial but for real.
Things from here went a bit unplanned as technically there should be an antarpat (cloth held high separating the bride and the groom) but the bhadji holding the antarpat was short so he could not raise it and I was actually looking at anuja. Then she asked the bhadji to raise the antarpat :). We were waiting for Muliche Mama, then when he arrived a lemon was missing, some relatives were missing from both sides. It felt like we got real eager to get married and arrived early. Then there was an instance where some naughty boys threw small bags of rice instead of just rice on us.. that sparked an uproar.. was getting chaotic until the last verse of the mangalahthaka were completed and the bhadji lowered the already low antarpat.. Then came the time when you put the garland on your spouse. My relatives lifted me and my dear did not allow her relatives to lift her. Real funny. It was like I was in mid air and anuja had her feet firmly on the ground. This kept on going for a while and then I did the inevitable where in I lowered myself so that Anuja could put the garland. Everybody said ah!! you already lowered your neck in front of your wife. The fact was I could not take the akwardness of the situation.
So you might its like saying I do and your are married.. A big NO. This is just the start of the marriage ceremony. Then there is a long list of things that go on for like a couple of hours before we were considered actual husband wife. The thing was there was nobody insight from both of your immediate families as everybody was busy in fulfilling the parampara of give and take. Everybody in the family needs to be honored with some kind of a gift. So it was just the 3 of us. Not pati patni and woh but pati patni and bohodji!!! I mean the priest or the brahmin.
Ok then everybody who had come to the marriage came and met us on the stage. Then for every guest we had to take 2 photos and a video shoot (which I will tell is one of the most annoying and tiring things if you ask me). 2 photos because there was a photographer from each side. One time the priest got so angry about the photos that he just stopped for a while. But things cooled down and went well.
So after we tied the knot and the took the saat phere around the agni we were married. I got scolded for walking fast and leaving my dear behind during the pheras. ( - :) sorry dear but I had to tell this one ). There was one more funny incident during the marriage. As the priest was going about the rituals. one lady took one of the small wati (container) having haldi and kumkum and vanished. The priest kept asking but it was so humurous that I could not answer the priest.
Then we had the dinner and went around taking blessing from the elderly and meeting some of anujas relatives. Now was the time to leave. I was getting happy (mere mann mein ladoo phoot rahe the) as this was what I had awaited for a long time.. getting married to my beloved and dearest anuja. It was understandable when her brother and her uncle were unconsoleably weeping. I did my best of consoling Amol her brother and her uncle but it was very much understood. I did assure them I would take the best care and they dont have to be worried about her.
In a few moments we made our way back to the bus with all our belongings and I and Anuja sat together. Initially we had to sit in the front with all the aged people but then we went a bit back where my cousins were sitting. This was one of the most memorable time in my life. Hand in hand and her head on my shoulder for the entire trip. It just felt amazing. It was like realizing and experiencing something that you had waited for a longtime. Your life , your wife your sweetheart was sitting besides you and from here onwards she would be always with you... just amazing. At heart I am a very emotional person and this was the time when I felt like one of those movies especially with the happy ending. But for us it was a happy beginning.
With all that I have been through and as a result anuja has been through god did bless us and made this possible. Throughout the journey we had our hand in hand and we felt relaxed.
When we reached home, i was about to take a big test for which I was preparing (actually i could not prepare and hence was scared). I had to lift anuja from the gate to the steps for our house. Anuja, never has had let me lift her up comfortably. I think shes scared that I may drop her. I picked her up in one go and then swiftly moved towards the steps. Then I was stopped by uncle and under the pretext of having this on video I stood there lifting anuja for almost a minute . Little bit more and I would have collapsed and anuja had to lift me and carry upstairs.!!! :)

All in all was a wonderful marriage for me.. a memorable experience.. and with a happy beginning to our married life. God bless both of us...

Take Care
Yogesh