Wedding Bells!!!

Now that I have your undivided attention...I can relate my experience at the Muslim wedding I attended yesterday :))...

This was the first time that I attended a Muslim wedding, we were from the bride's side, you can say we are family friends, as my dad and brother treat our car as member of the family and the bride's father is and has been our family mechanic (car doctor) for as long as I remember.

The wedding was due to begin at seven, and unlike our weddings when there is a mad rush to get the marriage done and dusted and the bride and the groom tied to each other within the auspicious muhurtam (I remember attending one of my cousins' wedding and since the groom's side arrived late, there was a mad rush to complete the saat pheras within the auspicious time, it looked like a scene straight out of a comedy film), here everything was at a leisurely pace, but since we did not know this we reached there at seven on the dot so that we dont miss the nikaah which the invite specified would be at seven sharp after the namaz-e-maghrib.

When we reached the venue the groom had not yet arrived, about 30 minutes later the groom arrived complete with band baaja, there was much dancing going on, everyone in the baraat including the groom danced :)...the band was from Punjab and had Bhangra dancers, so managed to catch some authentic Bhangra which is a rare treat, the men dance so gracefully!!! The wedding began sometime after eight, and was a beautiful ceremony, except that the bride was nowhere on the scene throughout the wedding. She came only after the wedding was complete and the groom was declared a married man!!!

I assume it was a holy man who presided over the ceremony, he said many verses in Urdu and Farsi, some of which he made the groom repeat, then he called on all in the audience to join him in prayer for the bride and groom. He prayed to the heavens to shower graces on the newlyweds and bless them with a lifetime of happiness and prosperity.

As you all know by now, Garfield and I have one thing in common which is our love of FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!!! The food at the wedding was absolutely outstanding; every dish had a distinctive taste and was well made. The only part which I would have liked to change was the one where the bride's father followed us around and heaped food on my plate, and I had to sneak to a corner to hide from him so that he does not put any more stuff on the plate, else I would have exploded of over-eating. The food was of the variety "pet bhar gaya par dil nahi".

What touched me most about the wedding was that the family members went out of their way to make us feel comfortable; this is one experience that will linger in my memory to my last day!!!