On the Eve of a Wedding

On the eve of the wedding is the function called Jaanavasam. The Grooms’ party is welcomed into the wedding hall and the first function of that evening is called Mapillai Azaippu. This translated in English means Welcoming the Groom. The Groom and his family are garlanded by members of the bride’s family and are served refreshments. The next function being Jaanvasam. The Groom is seated in a car decorated with flowers and taken to the nearby temple. The car moves very slowly as it is surrounded by relatives and friends who walk beside the car. Once the temple is reached a small puja is performed and then the groom and party return back to the wedding mantap to resume the next function which will be the Nichaiyathartham. (Engagement ceremony).
My narration is set on this evening scene called Jaanvasam. A clue will be provided for readers to identify the bride and groom. Enjoy:)
"Its getting late..Sita do hurry up" said Rama aunty. I stood by watching as my cousin Sita hurried to quickly drape an ordinary saree and sit before the dressing table. Rama aunty was already before the dressing table her hands filled with combs, hair clips, all sorts of adornments for the hair, rubberbands etc. "Lift up your head little more", said Rama aunty to Sita and as I watched on, she brushed back Sita's long and black and lustrous hair into a ponytail beginning at the top of the head. Then she slowly and steadily plaited Sita's hair. There was no stray hair in sight. I marvelled at Rama aunty's dexterity . Her fingers glided up and down Sita's hair and seemed to weave magic. Once Sita's hair got ready, aunty then started placing all the small ornaments. She first placed a Nethi Chutti, one long ornament pinned to the middle of the head and its pendant fell near the forehead , just below the hairline. She then placed the sooryan and chandran ornaments on either side of nethi chutti and then the rakodi , a circular ornament to adorn the hair and finished off with the pinnal.(braid) She also added small flower studded gem stones to the hair to add more elegance and beauty. All the ornaments dazzled with colorful stones and the whole head of Sita's seem to glow with the lustre of stones adding a unqiue glow to Sita.
"Now quickly go and change Sita", said aunty. I escorted Sita to the changing room where we shut the door and ogled at Sita's new saree. This was a navy blue saree , kanjeevaram sari, with horizontal lines of gold weaved through out the saree. The pallu was a charming and attractive shade of pink. I helped Sita change into the saree which she will be wearing for the eve of the wedding function, Nitchyadhartam. When Sita finished wearing the saree we placed an Odiyanam around her slim waist. I stood back to admire my beautiful cousin.
"Please hurry up" came Rama aunty's voice. She was more tense and worried everything should go smoothly. This was the first wedding in the house and she wanted it to go well."
"The mapillai (Groom)party is getting ready to go to the Ganesha temple." she added. "Why cannot we go to the temple too?" I asked my aunt as Sita stood shyly grinning beside me. Surprisingly aunt did not mind my question. She only said “This was unheard of in my days. Let me go ask Appa if its o.k.” and she hurried off to find Sita's dad, Balan mama. Sita's face meantime had turned a delectable shade of pink.
Balan mama went over to the grooms’ party house to check. The groom's family and relatives were camping across the street and without any phone in either house someone usually walked over. When Balan mama came back his face was beaming and he seemed happy too.
"They all liked the idea. Especially Krishna" said mama and glanced towards us. I had to hold Sita's hand in mine to prevent her from running away on hearing the news and that her fiance was more eager to see her earlier. The news of Sita also going to the temple during Jaanvasam spread like wild fire. The old grandmothers though very shocked at the turn of events realized that times were changing. Maybe they were lenient because Sita was their beloved grandchild , so soft spoken and loving. Ofcourse the rules could be bent. Sita’s aunt who very pregnant, Meenakshi mami, also wanted to come. So a place was found for her in the Grooms’ car. With all the out of ordinary events happening everyone was busy at the same time.
Luckily I had also dressed alongside Sita, so we found an upstairs window facing the street and rolled down its shutters inorder to peep and see the Grooms’ party takeoff for Jaanavasam. Very soon the car was brought in front of the grooms’ parties residence (which was the house opposite Sita’s) and the driver stood by the car waiting. The car was an Impala model car with its long length adorned beautifully with strings of flowers. All the windows were rolled down and the hood was kept back. Slowly some people started emerging from the Grooms’ residence. Shortly thereafter the Krishna’s cousin sisters came out. His sisters’ were living in U.S so his cousins performed the duties of a sister. Almost everyone had come out except the groom and a few others. There were plenty of kids dressed do well waiting eagerly to get into the car. By the side of the gates stood the Nadaswaram party. “Get started” shouted Balan mama at the Nadaswaram people who immediately started on a melodious song. As we watched through our peep hole we could see Balan mama coming in front followed closely by the Groom and his parents and cousins. The Groom Krishna was wearing an exquisite suit navy blue in color. He had his hair swept to one side and was sporting a thick mustache. Almost reminiscent of the young actor Rajinikanth. Really. His gait had a spring to it as if looking forward to walking his life with his bridetobe. He tilted his head slightly to glance up at the windows from which we were looking from. In our panic we rushed to close the blinds and inadvertently pulled them open justa little. That seemed to disclose the secret of our hiding place and Krishna walked with a stronger spring to his step and a knowing grin encircling his mouth. If we had had a zoom camera that picture would have made a great photo but needless to say that picture did make it to Sita’s heart and stayed there forever.
Soon we saw Krishna taking the seat in the back and before he knew it he was smothered by little kids around him, everywhere he could turn and the very pregnant Lalitha mami upfront. The Nadaswaram people had now moved to the front of the car and the slow procession began followed very closely be relatives on both sides and friends too. We closed the shutter when we heard Sita’s brother Shankar bound up the stairs. Sita, he yelled. “Get ready”. What for”, asked Rama aunty entering the room. We need to goto the temple”, he said. “We still have 20 minutes and I need to freshen up my face too” said my aunt. We waited very restlessly. Shankar with eyes of mischief said” There’s a small change of plans”. Both Sita and I were shocked.
“We are still going but we are going to intercept the groom’s car on the way” said Shankar grinning from ear to ear. Needless to say Sita’s face was now completely red.
When Rama aunty returned we all bundled up inside Shankar’s friend’s car. It was an ambassador and Shankar and his friend sat in the front and we made Sita sit by one window and I and aunt sat in the middle followed by another aunt. The driver was told to take the west mada street and within 10 minutes we had turned into the west mada street. The street was completely empty but for some kids and Shankar thought we were late so we rushed to the temple. There our informants, some more uncles, informed us the Groom party had not yet arrived so we rushed to east mada street. As we neared we could hear the sound of music from the Nadaswaram party. As our driver made a left turn into the street, very unexpectedly the Groom’s car made a right turn into the street we were in. So our cars passed each other. A fraction of a second was enough for Krishna to see that it was Sita in the crossing car and his face lit up like a million watt bulb. Needless to say Sita’s face was as bright as the groom’s and as red as the setting sun. The drivers were more focused on turning the cars because the Impala was a much bigger car and our small streets were not made for this traffic. Meanwhile all the kids spotted Sita and there was huge uproar as everyone yelled “There’s Sita.” Before the commotion could settle down our car had passed. Now there was a race to get to the temple first. Rama aunty demanded we go slow and to allow the groom’s party to reach first. And she won. Finally we were all inside the temple. Krishna’s parents invited Sita to come upfront and stand beside Krishna while the priest did a puja to God Ganesha. Though Rama aunty was shocked she kept quiet it being the grooms’ party and all. After the puja the priest gave the bride and groom a beautiful flower each and everyone slowly started to disperse. Sita stood there with closed eyes and prayed to God to bless her with a happy married life. She must have kept her hands open as she felt something being placed in it. She opened her eyes to see Krishna had placed his flower in her hands. And he was walking away with a very mischievous glance at Sita. Soon it was time to go and all the rest of the functions went well thanks to Lord Ganesha.
Today after 24 years of marriage when Sita and Krishna goto visit Lord Ganesha on Feb3rd, Sita can see Lord Ganesha’s right eyelids slightly close as in a wink to remind the couple of his presence with the flower they shared in front of him and as such sealed the Lord’s presence in their lives.