December is a good month for all the wedding planners and contractors. The wedding season is on. There are weddings and engagements everywhere. Every other day I see a “Baarat” where the husband is seated on a decorated mare and there are people dancing around him on the beats of Chikni Chameli and Sheila ki Jawaani. The whole view is a little funny sometimes.
Personally, I am not so fond of attending weddings unless I know the families quite well or it is of my own kin. For the first time I decided to be an uninvited guest in a wedding. My office colleague had asked me to company her to a wedding. It was her neighbor’s son’s wedding. The wedding was going to be grand acording to her. I denied her at first, but then she convinced me to join her. She said that way I could make new friends, hit on guys and have an excellent lunch for free. I thought over it for some time. I was fed up with the office lunch session filled with gossips and affairs. I found no harm in joining her to find for some new faces.
We left in the afternoon and went to the wedding hall. It was a huge building finished with white marble tiles. It had a lot of luxurious cars coming in. The main gate was decorated with purple carnations and white orchids. There was a red shimmering carpet for the guests. There were two people spraying lavender flavored essence to welcome the guests at the door step and two of them to hand over a goodie bad sort of a thing.The whole wedding was grand and huge. The hall was filled with a lot of people. Women were in their latest saree collections with a lot of makeup and hair décor. Men were all in the best of their suits. And here I was wearing a very simple chudidar with a few mismatched bangles as the only accessories.
I looked at my friend,
“Whose wedding is this?”
“The bride’s side is one of the well known families in town. And that is why I did not want to miss this one. Could you just wait here for a minute? I will be back in a minute.”
“Wait! What do I do here? Where are you going?”
“I forgot getting the gift from the car. And just mingle around till I am back.”
She rushed down the gate and vanished somewhere in seconds. I leaned to the steps fiddling with my colorful wood bangles. It had more than 15 minutes now, and she was still not there. Somebody tapped on my shoulders from the right side. I turned to find a guy wearing a checks shirt, rugged denims and a camera I his hand. He looked shabby but was quite handsome. He gave me a suspicious stare and asked me,
“Are you a Gate Crasher?”
I was stumped by his question. The whole appearance of the guy made him look more of a gate crasher. I replied callously.
“Excuse me! I am with a friend here.”
“Miss, chill, I am kidding. You were the only one here who seems a little jaded.”
“Who are you? The Photographer?”, I asked him pointing towards hid camera.
“Technically yes”
“Okay”
“Are you judging me by my profession?”
“No”
“Yes”
“Yes”
“You just insulted me”
“So did you, by calling me a gate crasher.”
“Sorry. Okay come give me company to take some pictures. I will make it up for the rude flirting attempt.”
“I am waiting for a friend here”
“You can do that inside as well.”
He held my hands and took me inside. I was feeling very out of place. The guy was right, I was actually bored. The place was decorated with flowers and laces and drapes using only purple and white colors. The bride and groom were seated on a heart shaped stage. The bride was wearing a purple attire and the groom was in white. There were chairs for the guests with a heart shaped seat. Everything was so planned and organized.
“You like the whole purple and white layout?”
“It is different."
“The lady to your left in the Green and Yellow Saree, she finds this idea crap.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Her expressions say it all.”
“What are you? A photographer who can study expressions?”
“Wait and watch.”
He took me near the lady; she immediately came towards us and started talking to him as if they knew each other quite well.
“How are you dear?”
“I am good. How are you? How do you like the wedding?”
“It is good. But I assure you my daughter’s wedding will not look like a Simi Garewall set for sure. It will be so much better you know. I am sure you will come there as well."
“If I get an invite”
“Oh honey, do you think you need an invitation?”
The guy excused us from the lady and took me near a group of bachelors flirting with each other. They were all looking extra ordinary with their designer outfits and salon treated hair. But the ethnic look was missing. There was make up and skin exposure only.
“Would you want to take a click?”
I was still puzzled over why was a wedding photographer given so much of importance. I denied saying I did not know to use a SLR. He took the camera, aimed at a beautiful girl drinking some grape mocktail.
“You don’t need to. My camera knows how to do it’s work.”
The crowd there got aware of him clicking pictures and in no time came next to us. The girls were actually flirting with a photographer and the guys were shaking hands and describing a photographer their outfit and look.
“Why are you so important here?”
He did not answer me and went to the stage were the wedding rituals were happening.
“The bride is not interested in the marriage.”
“How can you say this now?”
“Look at her expressions. She is not meeting her eyes with the groom, she just got her hands off from the groom’s hand giving a sigh of relief and she is wearing green footwear, contrary to the purple and white circus”
“Footwear?”
“That was a joke.”
“You have a bad sense of humor.”
He again ignored my remark and started taking more pictures. After some time he looked at me,
“Let us eat. I hope the food is not bad”
“What? Shouldn’t you be here taking pictures for every ritual?”
He pointed me to some people spread all around the hall taking pictures.
“You earn so much that you keep so many assistants?”
“Can we go eat?”
“No, sorry, have to go. My friend must be waiting and my lunch time is almost over. She just text me that she is waiting for me in the parking."
“Where do you work?”
“E Clerks”
That was the end of our story.
Actually no, I was kidding now.
The next week at office we get a magazine named “The Elite Weddings”, a Weekly Magazine for elite class weddings and relationships. It was a thing to flaunt to have a wedding covered by this magazine. I did not anything about it.
The receptionist came to my desk and gave me a wink,
“It is for you.”
“There is no name on the cover.”
“There is a photo though.”
The front cover of the magazine had a picture of me with a caption,
“Simplicity at it’s best”
I was excited seeing the beautiful picture of me. The picture was me in red and green amongst all the purples and white playing with my colorful bangles. I opened the magazine to see the photographer guy's picture on the editorial column. Now it was clear to me why a simple wedding photographer was so important there. I was happy seeing my picture and was wondering about the guy. I found a note in the end of the magazine which read,
“It was nice meeting you! Hope you liked the picture."
Personally, I am not so fond of attending weddings unless I know the families quite well or it is of my own kin. For the first time I decided to be an uninvited guest in a wedding. My office colleague had asked me to company her to a wedding. It was her neighbor’s son’s wedding. The wedding was going to be grand acording to her. I denied her at first, but then she convinced me to join her. She said that way I could make new friends, hit on guys and have an excellent lunch for free. I thought over it for some time. I was fed up with the office lunch session filled with gossips and affairs. I found no harm in joining her to find for some new faces.
We left in the afternoon and went to the wedding hall. It was a huge building finished with white marble tiles. It had a lot of luxurious cars coming in. The main gate was decorated with purple carnations and white orchids. There was a red shimmering carpet for the guests. There were two people spraying lavender flavored essence to welcome the guests at the door step and two of them to hand over a goodie bad sort of a thing.The whole wedding was grand and huge. The hall was filled with a lot of people. Women were in their latest saree collections with a lot of makeup and hair décor. Men were all in the best of their suits. And here I was wearing a very simple chudidar with a few mismatched bangles as the only accessories.
I looked at my friend,
“Whose wedding is this?”
“The bride’s side is one of the well known families in town. And that is why I did not want to miss this one. Could you just wait here for a minute? I will be back in a minute.”
“Wait! What do I do here? Where are you going?”
“I forgot getting the gift from the car. And just mingle around till I am back.”
She rushed down the gate and vanished somewhere in seconds. I leaned to the steps fiddling with my colorful wood bangles. It had more than 15 minutes now, and she was still not there. Somebody tapped on my shoulders from the right side. I turned to find a guy wearing a checks shirt, rugged denims and a camera I his hand. He looked shabby but was quite handsome. He gave me a suspicious stare and asked me,
“Are you a Gate Crasher?”
I was stumped by his question. The whole appearance of the guy made him look more of a gate crasher. I replied callously.
“Excuse me! I am with a friend here.”
“Miss, chill, I am kidding. You were the only one here who seems a little jaded.”
“Who are you? The Photographer?”, I asked him pointing towards hid camera.
“Technically yes”
“Okay”
“Are you judging me by my profession?”
“No”
“Yes”
“Yes”
“You just insulted me”
“So did you, by calling me a gate crasher.”
“Sorry. Okay come give me company to take some pictures. I will make it up for the rude flirting attempt.”
“I am waiting for a friend here”
“You can do that inside as well.”
He held my hands and took me inside. I was feeling very out of place. The guy was right, I was actually bored. The place was decorated with flowers and laces and drapes using only purple and white colors. The bride and groom were seated on a heart shaped stage. The bride was wearing a purple attire and the groom was in white. There were chairs for the guests with a heart shaped seat. Everything was so planned and organized.
“You like the whole purple and white layout?”
“It is different."
“The lady to your left in the Green and Yellow Saree, she finds this idea crap.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Her expressions say it all.”
“What are you? A photographer who can study expressions?”
“Wait and watch.”
He took me near the lady; she immediately came towards us and started talking to him as if they knew each other quite well.
“How are you dear?”
“I am good. How are you? How do you like the wedding?”
“It is good. But I assure you my daughter’s wedding will not look like a Simi Garewall set for sure. It will be so much better you know. I am sure you will come there as well."
“If I get an invite”
“Oh honey, do you think you need an invitation?”
The guy excused us from the lady and took me near a group of bachelors flirting with each other. They were all looking extra ordinary with their designer outfits and salon treated hair. But the ethnic look was missing. There was make up and skin exposure only.
“Would you want to take a click?”
I was still puzzled over why was a wedding photographer given so much of importance. I denied saying I did not know to use a SLR. He took the camera, aimed at a beautiful girl drinking some grape mocktail.
“You don’t need to. My camera knows how to do it’s work.”
The crowd there got aware of him clicking pictures and in no time came next to us. The girls were actually flirting with a photographer and the guys were shaking hands and describing a photographer their outfit and look.
“Why are you so important here?”
He did not answer me and went to the stage were the wedding rituals were happening.
“The bride is not interested in the marriage.”
“How can you say this now?”
“Look at her expressions. She is not meeting her eyes with the groom, she just got her hands off from the groom’s hand giving a sigh of relief and she is wearing green footwear, contrary to the purple and white circus”
“Footwear?”
“That was a joke.”
“You have a bad sense of humor.”
He again ignored my remark and started taking more pictures. After some time he looked at me,
“Let us eat. I hope the food is not bad”
“What? Shouldn’t you be here taking pictures for every ritual?”
He pointed me to some people spread all around the hall taking pictures.
“You earn so much that you keep so many assistants?”
“Can we go eat?”
“No, sorry, have to go. My friend must be waiting and my lunch time is almost over. She just text me that she is waiting for me in the parking."
“Where do you work?”
“E Clerks”
That was the end of our story.
Actually no, I was kidding now.
The next week at office we get a magazine named “The Elite Weddings”, a Weekly Magazine for elite class weddings and relationships. It was a thing to flaunt to have a wedding covered by this magazine. I did not anything about it.
The receptionist came to my desk and gave me a wink,
“It is for you.”
“There is no name on the cover.”
“There is a photo though.”
The front cover of the magazine had a picture of me with a caption,
“Simplicity at it’s best”
I was excited seeing the beautiful picture of me. The picture was me in red and green amongst all the purples and white playing with my colorful bangles. I opened the magazine to see the photographer guy's picture on the editorial column. Now it was clear to me why a simple wedding photographer was so important there. I was happy seeing my picture and was wondering about the guy. I found a note in the end of the magazine which read,
“It was nice meeting you! Hope you liked the picture."
- By Anvi Mehta
Good read it was!
ReplyDeleteWedding... A social manifestation of a union between two individuals crossing the barriers of their own privacy to get fused in a new beginning... witnessed by society, watched by almighty and oversee by law. Somehow I feel its always an effect of collective paranoia on the part of those who already have entered that domain. I feel the true marriages happen with no witnesses around and some times... even the participants are not aware of their emotional and spiritual union. Sadly... no one acknowledges such weddings...
ReplyDelete