Caught in a knot…

“Wishing you a very happy married life” and damp eyes were what we parted away with. Thus, my roomie Priti’s much awaited marriage finally drew to a close; and probably, one of the most interesting as well as life-changing phases of my life too – this was my last outing with my dear friends and roommates before I embark on a new journey.

Flashback…

Bruised and battered after a barrage of GDs, essays, interviews and assignments, Priti’s marriage would be a welcome respite, an oasis in the middle of a desert, I had thought. It turned out to be much more than that!

We had been preparing for the marriage as much as the bride must have been, I guess, with all the shopping and matching and tailoring. Thankfully, we managed to get things done before the release (pun-intended. By the way, I hope Shiv (the bridegroom) learns to cope up since my ex-roomie wouldn’t ever dampen her spirits when it comes to releases). The tickets were booked, bags packed, dear aunty updated with the itinerary and at long last we started from home to ‘catch’ the bus, given our vows to leave at the eleventh hour, this time because of me. J Reached bang on time, boarded the bus, met friends, exchanged pleasantries, settled in our seats, hogged from our tiffins and then went to sleep. Sounds good till now?

Somehow, we have been bestowed with a divine blessing that our journeys would always be spiced up with memorable incidents. When I was fast asleep, I saw a long hand drawn in from the aisle of the bus and a human figure leaning by my side. A brave heart, I was not scared and tried to figure out what it was; then realized that it was an agitated ***(Can’t disclose the name due to privacy laws) trying to wake us up for a seemingly urgent matter. Breaking news – ‘nature calling nature’ in the middle of nowhere and at past midnight. We got up, stared at each other for a long time trying to shed our sleep and to figure a way out to put the bladder at rest. When we looked out the window and found absolutely no sign of any civilization… what do you think, we got scared? No way… We started laughing out loud – it was a feeling of nostalgia – another friend of ours had thrown up a similar tantrum on a trip from Pune to Mumbai; we were used to this. We pestered the bus driver to stop the bus thrice and began a breathtaking (literally) wait for the bus to screech to a halt. Our wish was granted by the driver after around forty five minutes. After the ablutions, we tried to celebrate our victory with tea but the bitterness made us celebrate with cold drink instead. To hell with precaution, long live cure – would bring the bus to a stop again. Hi hi haw haw haw!

After gazing the twinkle twinkle little stars for a while, I went back to sleep. At around 3.30, I felt someone softly urging me to wake up. It was Bhavana(my other roommate), she wanted to show me around Aurangabad and she did. Holy cross school(built on a cemetery by the way, hooooo), cantonment area, the way to Bibi ka maqbara, baba petrol pump, railway station chowk, JNEC at a distance, the chat centre which was all desolate at that hour in the night, Jalna road, Ravi… Since it was said in the same breath, I thought that Ravi was some monument too but later realized that it was indeed a homo sapien sapien who boarded the bus in Aurangabad, though, it seemed to me that a person had to be monumental in nature to take a bus at that hour instead of an earlier one – found the actual reason later – he wanted to escort us ‘abla naris’ to Parbhani properly – oh, what did you think? Thus ended the scripting of Bhavana Tilwankar’s Midnight’s Aurangabad – A tribute to Salman Rushdie…

The next morning saw a replay of ‘Kaho Naa Pyar Hai’. The sun’s rays tried their best to wake us up; and in the absence of an Amish Patel who would caringly draw clothes over our eyes, we had to wake up and sit straight. After a bumpy ride through a barren, dusty photographer’s paradise, we touched Parbhani on Saturday at 9 in the morning. We headed on to the mangal karyalay to meet the bride. She looked like a doll in a saree, being smeared with Haldi.

We then went to our allotted rooms to freshen up and get ready for the other functions. Wrapped in sarees, we attended the Vinayak pujan which the bride and her parents perform before her marriage. The Vinayak – Yash – was a cool kid and we happened to strike a good rapport with him and his girlfriend Padma – who later turned out to be a drum sized girl elder to him. Subsequent to this was the Kalash pujan when we danced with the bride.

When it ended, everyone was completely spent out in the scorching summer heat and we slept our way to bliss. The evening was an extravaganza. They had organized a program which had dances by the young and the old alike and a biopic enactment on Priti’s life – emotionally charged, with a few tears dropped at touching moments and a lot of INR greenbacks showered. The climax was when Priti danced very cutely, like a doll, on the stage towards the end. The curtains finally went down with our Ganapati dance. How could we not dance at the wedding of our beloved friend?

The following ‘day’ was largely uneventful for us. After the arrival of the Baraat in the morning, there was a chain of rituals for the bridegroom. Having no business there, we proceeded to Mugdha’s(friend) place. After sweating to glory in Parbhani’s extreme heat, we heaved a sigh of relief in the ‘thanda thanda cool cool’ comfort of Mugdha’s house with a fan atop our heads, and that’s when I had a chance to really get to know Priti’s other friends; who now are as much my own! I was quite at ease already with ‘Divya’ Jyoti, having met her once before. The ‘monumental RAVIshing’ guy (pun intended) opened his mouth for the first time and it dawned on me that looks can really be deceptive – till now his calm looks hid the chatterbox in him. ‘Apna Sud’ Sudarshan was awestruck for sometime – Ahh the awe inspiring dignitaries that we are – but finally let his mouth do the honours in intermittent gusts of silence and repartee. My dear roomies were there, all along, one on the phone and the other on the sofa opposite mine. Mugdha came out to be a perfect hostess, the married lady that she is, and a sweet friend. We all made friends with Mugdha’s mom as much as we did with her. Umm, I think we bugged her more than Mugdha does, though! After a movie length discussion on Parbhani’s theatres and movies to watch, ultimately there was a failed bid to watch Rajneeti. Phew, thankfully – who would leave a cooler for an AC less theatre? After some rest, we made a beeline for the mangal karyalay, met the bridegroom and started getting ready for ‘the event of a lifetime’.

In the evening, the marriage ceremony began with the arrival of the bridegroom on a ghodi, rituals for his welcome and a nose-pull by the would-be mother-in-law. After the bride received the bridegroom, the couple together walked up the aisle leading to the stage. During the exchange of garlands, there was a glimpse of our ‘chota don’ in the way Priti put the garland over Shiv – ‘Don ko maala dalne se rokna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai’! The inevitable photography sessions with relatives, known and unknown, followed – the couple painfully smiled and we happily quenched our hunger. At the muhurat – an hour before midnight, the couple made an appearance in a new set of ‘vesh bhusha’ for the traditional rites and rituals. What followed is anybody’s guess – Mantra paath, fere, saat vachan, mangalsutra rasm, maang bharai – in the wee hours of Monday and with everyone sitting like a zombie – sleepless. The climactic end lay in the Vidai. This is a marriage I saw at real close quarters and perhaps understood, to an extent, what it means to marry off a daughter, why is it that the daughter and the parents shed a flood of tears – the ‘triveni’ of the ‘ashrudhara’ probably lies in the uncertainty of her future in-law household, the realization that things will never be the same again and that the daughter’s priorities and love would now be directed towards others; she will be drawn away from her present family – a void that can never be bridged. ‘Palki mein hoke sawar chali re’ – Mrs. Priti Manakshe drove away ‘Just Married’!

I am amazed how emotions can change, a play of light and glass, changing colors every now and then. After the high of the vidai subsided, it was life as usual. Everyone chattered and the guests started leaving. After a cup of tea we were dropped by Priti’s brother to the railway station. A train was already waiting for us dignitaries. We boarded the train and I dozed off to sleep. I could hear some rumbling about station names that my ‘co passengers’ tried to feed me with so that I could incorporate them in my blog. However, for a person who never did a night out even for the most important of exams, the limits had already been crossed and it was impossible to be awake. Reached Aurangabad, went to Bhavana’s place, slept and ate, left for Pune in a bus with an irritated driver but powerful brakes (phew!), stopped over at a beautiful place in between – Smile Stone – saw the ostrich like bird Emu, reached Pune safe and sound, just to leave again on a longer trip soon. My four year long stay in Pune has been a great milestone in my life or should I say a ‘Smile Stone’ in my life???

    

The air is buzzing with talk of impending nuptials. Who’s next? We are ready for a cameo!