midnight knock

There is a wedding on its way in our family, its on 14 Dec, of a dear daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend, all rolled into one. Her name, Gayatri, fondly Gayu.There are relatives trickling in from far off places. Along with that comes news from a few who will not be able to make it and when there is disappointment around, one of them, first Veena, slowly sneaks in, all the way from the US and then her husband Vikas.. This unexpected appearance creates a joyous celebration among all present. Next one is sprung by Neena and Ajith from Dubai who managed to make the not coming to coming.. Such pleasant surprises makes the preparation to the wedding a delightEvery body gets together, a few volunteers takes over the kitchen, 20 of them sleeps in the same building in whatever space available. It looks like a refugee camp sans suffering, only happinessYou can choose your friends, not relatives. I am personally thankful for that. I have realised I have more relatives than friends, nothing wrong with them, it is that relatives are my close friends. There may be differences of opinion and more love for each other. It has been proved on occasions of crisis and celebrations, the way everybody shares, increasing our richness. Heaven and hell are not geographic locations, they are situations and behaviour created by humans. These people have made earth a heaven for me. I do not have to die to go to heaven.There are relatives that happens from parents side when you are born and new ones get added among different households due to marriage. These are occasions which brings us closer, especially the love for Gayu. Some of them by this time has already become close and I have started enjoying their company. They are new addition to my inner circle, I don’t have to mention the names here, they know it, few old relations and new bondsAnother interesting character is our dog at home,,do not remember how he got his name, Pachi. He was picked up from near a gutter when few days old and has grown into a handsome guy. During daytime he is tied in his little home and let free in the evening. In no time, these days, you will find him at the kalyanaveedu ( wedding house) and spends the night there. He knows where the action and food are.Gayu’s brother Govind is his pet, pachi’s pet. We saw its affection later, when Govind left, Pachi is back home, depressedPachiLot of instant jokes kept happening and you can hear laughter, they may not be unique, every one has experienced it some time or the other.There is the Uncle who was first to grab the newspaper and spend half an hour searching for his reading glasses, which somebody found it on his head, with him muttering how did it land there.Another deadly electronic site is all the plug points engaged in charging mobile phones and many waiting in que and some naughty cousin, quietly replaces a 10 percent charged phone with his phone,Picking up a similar looking phone and a quick reply to someone’s wife, a whatsapp message, well it can be hilarious for some, not all…There is always a car coming in and another leaving, Every body is busy and I was wondering what makes them, when I had to answer a call, it was a visit to the tailor shop, there is a fall to be attached to the saree or a stitched blouse to be collected or someone has to visit the parlor.. Let me tell you, these tailors never get it right the first time and they are one among the primary reasons for the tensions.There are incidents when one of us gets up from a chair and the dhoti comes off, unaware.You cant help overhearing a lady’s voice scolding her husband about the dress he is wearing for the wedding, not at all matching with hers when she has taken many months to arrive at the conclusion of what to wear. Men are interested only in primary colours, red, blue, green, and here is her man, ready to wear what he can lay his hands onThe evenings brings all together and the groups from ages 2 to 90 plus get formed as per drinks, music, dance, politics, maid problem, parenting..And then comes the 13 of December evening, when the relatives gets together and few youngsters springs a pleasant surprise with humorous skits and dance dramas. The skits were created over phones by the team members, living in the US (Veena), Mumbai (Priya, Chitra), Himachal Pradesh (Sandhya), Bangalore (Rajeesh),There were skits about Adarsh and Gayu’s romance from the ‘no’ to maybe to yes days mimicked by uncles and aunties, double her age, Another skit is about her parents, the way they met and got married in 7 days, the husband with excellent culinary talent giving his wife enough time for selfies, which becomes her hobby, until his fall before the wedding.Simplest of wedding is like 100 metres dash in 10 seconds, happens after tears of preparation, tears of joy. One of the critical activity is inviting without missing any one, I am not sure how many has got it right.Or the funniest thing in marriage is when she thinks she is punishing the husband by not talking to him and many others. Don’t take them seriously and become a joke.Marriage is like a three legged race, with your right leg tied to your partners left., you have to run in the same direction. A few points for dear Adarsh and Gayu, though you do not need it, respect each other’s differences, support each other’s talents, cover up for the weakness of each other, respond, do not react. Next project for a married couple is kid (your parents will be reminded by the relatives, friends and neighbours at every meeting). If both decide not to have, it is fine, if one of them is against it, then there is trouble. Best wishes.And then came the fourteenth of December and the marriage took place.Three special mentions :

1. Aniyan, bride’s father, an energetic man of action fell and had a fracture two months ago limiting his physical movements, a frustrating situation to be in. The bone broke, not his spirits and he lead the show till its conclusion
2. Meenakshi, who designed and stitched her wear for the wedding, a month’s effort, fell ill on the day, though present at the venue, could not actively participate. She is an upcoming singer going places.
3. Govind, brother, who was planning a surprise gift to his family, an Ameo car, to be used for the wedding, was delivered two days after the event, after Gayu and Adarsh left for pondichery by bus. Govind continues to look sheepish !!!

The final joke is on the just married couple who has kept their destination a secret, some naughty cousins are already on a CID mission to find their first night boarding, and planning an intervention with a mid night knock. I have no idea of the ” climax” of this whole episode. No puns intended.Two most loved souls present for the wedding, showered the best blessings on them, Adarsh’s late mother Gita and Gayatri’s late grand mother Bhargavi.The evening fun

PallaviJayanthi Jyothishhttps://youtu.be/dJ1YhDZxv7I