And so several lives have changed forever in the space of a few hours. Not ours – at least not significantly. But of all the parties mentioned in the previous post. My cook and her vast extended family managed to marry their daughter in a little temple near their home in the presence of 50 of their friends and relatives – in fact the whole community living in that area.

That the whole thing will go through was something that I seriously doubted. I mean – what a fantasy land kind of plan. But, that it would take place, and take place so quickly after my first hearing about it was something that came like a bolt from the blue.

When my cook didn’t show today till 45 minutes past her usual arrival time, I called her with half a premonition. It turned out that since the groom elect boy had been warned by someone of his probable fate, he had planned to leave town on Saturday. Poor guy, he left it too late. The entire bunch of people pounced on him today and this boy – who had actually come to the city to do his “inter” (XI, I think) – is now a married man. My cook and all her family are treating this as a very happy occasion – and are even planning to host a dinner tomorrow to celebrate the nuptials to which I have been particularly invited.

An eyewitness said that all the rituals like women singing, all relatives welcoming the newly weds one by one everything was as per a usual marriage. Even the bride (or should I say, the child? – remember she is 14) was crying and refused to come when called – exactly like a real wedding where a girl is sad to leave her mom after her wedding. Everyone was decked up in finery and there was a photographer and videographer to record the event. Well why not? It was a wedding – which is usually the most important event in any community.

All done. All well.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

 

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