Friday, February 08, 2008

MY DAUGHTER"S WEDDING


My elder daughter got married on the 27th of January last and I am afraid I could not do much of a blogging these few days. She is a techie, now settled in Denver Colorado and she made it to Kolkata for her wedding. My wife and I did most of the initial preparations, a Herculean task to say the least. My wife was ably assisted by her elder sister, who pitched in with gusto. On the 26th, a small dinner and dance party was held at the Hotel Golden Park in Harrington Street. It was in house affair and we swayed to the music of the DJ’s. It was well beyond 11pm when we broke up. The 26th being the Republic day no alcohol was served.

The wedding took place on the 27th. Snehalata Bhavan, about 3kms from my residence, was the chosen site for the ceremony. By 10am we had gathered for some of the Vedic rituals and women’s ceremonies to commence. It is now hard to believe that we got delayed by more than an hour and half as the paraphernalia from the groom’s house took a long time to arrive. It was then that the ‘Haldi’ ceremony took place. A simple lunch followed.

The women dispersed afterwards for dressing in their finery and the bride and her sister who had come from Sussex, UK went to the parlour. As evening approached we were all ready for the ceremony to commence. The groom arrived at about 6.30pm in a phaeton along with his friends and relatives. The band played loud music and there was much dancing on the thoroughfare. Snehalata Bhavan was suitably decorated and the guests started pouring in.

By 7pm the wedding ceremony started and there was much gaiety. The guests numbering about 300 witnessed the proceedings and partook of the dinner as a token of their benediction. It was near midnight when the last of the guests left and our family went home taking the newly married couple along.