and the wedding itself

hey my blog has too much wedding talk, time i look at other things. but this is whats been happening this week, so i have to talk about it.

so yeah to let out a secret. it wasnt exactly my cousin's wedding. she is my actually mom's cousin. yeah yeah..big family. my thatha is the eldest of seven or eight brothers. so this girl is my last chinna thatha's daughter. shes my age though.! hmm...

anyway, saturday began with a recital of andal kalyanam from divya prabhandam (thats what the elders said.). it was fun to watch. an old mami and her troupe singing--- katha kalakshebham style. very good.
followed by a pinnal kollaattam. yeah u guessed right, by mamis again. it was fun and funny to watch a bunch of mamis singing and dancing (partially..moving in a rhythmic fashion if not dancing) excitedly.

then amazing 'tiffin'. halwa, sevai and dosas. yumm! i can still smell the halwa with ghee.. drip drip drip. wow!

after this it was time to tease my chiteeeeeeeeeee (the bride!) and then deck up in all finery. and i must say i was quite happy with the way i looked that day. (and the next day) black and red sari..that i talked about in an earlier post.

i was busy just flitting my eyes across the hall just like that (i was a bit bored now..after all the small-talk with relatives, running around kids and catching up with cousins (real ones this time). then i realised with a start that my mom was too. though for obviously different reasons. i gave her a weird 'amma, you are my amma' look when my mom divulged her reasons for doing so! ha ha. jokes apart, she did seem pretty serious when she pointed to someone. hmm...

what is it with these old women who seem to think weddings are occasions to get rid off their own children! i mean, really i cant be that much trouble?

the day ended with dinner. though i dont remember much of it, as the tiffin taste still lingered in my mouth.

next day: woke up at 5.30. got dressed. wore a saree myself! must confess i was mad at my mom for not being around to help. she had other things to take care of, she said.

anyway back to the mandapam at 7.30. i discovered my throat infection that began on saturday afternoon still persisted. i knew i wud mess up 'oonjal' singing. but not to worry..i managed.
not without some competition from the boy's side. a couple of mamis again were so keen on singing all the songs, that i just let them. before the bride's mom forced me to croon...but the girl's side members were virtual siting ducks.

in the midst of all this, one old lady goes up to my mom's sister (another chithi) and asks of me --'yaaru indha kozhandai.' then my chithi innocently comes up to me and asks - "Bostonlaam paravaillaiya?". And all i can do is give her the characteristic 'no way' look which she is so used to by now. but i suspect my chitis and my mom are gonna gang up on me one of these days.

after the muhurtam, my mom and i walk up to the newly weds to wish them. and my mom being the livewire she is, says this to the guy - 'my husband is the first maapillai of this family and you are the last."
My mom is the eldest daughter of the oldest thatha around. which makes my dad not only the first maapillai but also the oldest one! there have been times when my dad is mistaken to be my thatha! ok if u ever get to read this appa (which you wont), no offence meant, pa.

anyway, what a parallel! even the slightly puzzled young maapillai couldnt help but smile at my mom's observation.

it was time to leave then and now too.