Trisara

9th November

To Manasa Akka and Rohit Chetta

The Hall

Flowers were arranged in loops and long hangings as they adorned the entrance to the main reception hall, welcoming all of us in. A side stand stood as though calling for the attention of everyone that passed by with pictures of the bride and groom along with long leafy tendrils running across making it seem even more beautiful. A tall white stand with the letters 'L O V E' stood spelled out, spots of light emitting from the beautiful word. Behind this magnificent decoration, was a wall fountain with big green plants by its sides and the water flowing serenely.

As I moved further away, there were chairs all neatly arranged in rows and columns all facing a stage that seemed elegant enough to have my eyes fixed on them. Two glass chandeliers on each end hung away from each other with many bulbs of lights all arranged in a line. In front of this stood the plain white and almost glowing seat meant for the newlywed couple to be seated. All over the stage, there were decorations of flowers of baby pink, pure white and a pastel orange all beautifully arranged and hangings of white flowers right above the bulbs. Away from the stage was the buffet hall and by its side, the dance hall and below it, a large square of green grass.

A man was just leaving the hall when we arrived. He was dressed in a simple dark blue t-shirt and wore glasses with golden rims. He stopped by, tried to recall my mother's name and succeeded in it, gave us a pleasant smile and rushed on to his unfinished work.

Inside, there was a group of photographers who ran around, fixing lights and light stands aiming for the perfect lighting, occasionally clicking pictures of the empty hall. We arrived early, extremely early for as the only ones to give us company now were the photographers and the women who mopped and cleaned the floor as though to make it even cleaner than it already was. 

The Bride and Groom Arrive

People started filing in in groups. 

A man walked in and out of the reception hall taking trips in his car bringing along people from far. He made sure to stop by, despite his busy errands and greeted me and my mother before he was off again. Even among his short and vital expeditions to and forth, he greeted all the people who arrived and made them comfortable and with a flash, he was off.

A woman entered dressed in a magnificent shade of yellow, greeting me and my mother with a happy, wide smile that immediately filled me with a sense of warmth and homeliness. Her daughter stood by her side, greeting us with an equally warm smile.  She wore a dark blue and golden dress and as she turned around to go somewhere else, I couldn't help but notice her hair tied in an exquisite bun with golden flowers and pins decorating it. The mother and daughter went around greeting and welcoming all the other guests who had arrived.

A woman, elegantly dressed in black, her hair tied up in a bun with a few golden pins adorning it walked around in speed greeting every guest that had arrived. She would walk up to one family and hold one of them by their hand and speak to them with her eyes lighting up and a wide smile plastered across her face. Occasionally, she would even move her hands wildly in aversion, her face falling into a playful frown scolding the family for not paying regular visits to her house. After speaking to a few families, she'd run around to make sure all the preparations for the reception were on right. Here and there, she'd stop, and cheerfully speak to her friends and family, greeting them so warmly. 

An old lady, dressed in a green saree then entered and I noticed then, that she was one of the few people I knew in this huge crowd. My mother stood up beside me and began to move towards the grandma. 

"She's going to scold me for not paying a visit," she said smiling and looking as though she had seen someone she had been yearning to see in a while.

Another woman walked around greeting everyone with a cheery smile, her hair falling down to the length of her shoulders in straight, untangled streaks. Every time she spoke to someone, she made them feel comfortable and homely with constant reminders of how wonderful something they did was or how good they looked or just any compliment. 

The crowds of people entering became more and more and everyone was awaiting the arrival of the bride and groom. I heard someone say that they had come and Mother and I rushed to the entrance to see the newlywed couple. And there they were.

The bride was dressed in a resplendent mint green lehenga with pink flowers. The groom was by her side, formally dressed in a black suit. They walked slowly with the photographers asking them to pause here and there as they clicked pictures. I was moving around when all of a sudden, the slow melodious music turned into an upbeat Bollywood song and before I could realize it, the bride was dancing. She moved around the few steps of the path laid down for them and danced a beautiful dance for the song attracting the comments of ’Oohh!', 'How beautiful!', 'What a cute couple!', 'She's dancing all of a sudden!' from the guests. After this, the couple were on the stage in less than a few minutes. 

Of Presents and Photographs

Slowly, people started lining up on the left side of the stage with their colourfully wrapped gifts to greet the couple and wish them. 

Inline stood an old couple, who didn't look very old. The man wore a checked green shirt, his hair tied in a small pony at the back of his head. Beside him stood his wife clad in an elegant yellow saree with circles on it as designs. She had a long bindi sitting in between her eyebrows and every time she smiled, her eyes smiled too shaping themselves into a friendly curve. The guests would come in groups or alone, give the couple their gift, pose for a picture, speak for a few seconds and then get off the stage. This continued for a while when I noticed that after every picture, the photographer would point a thumbs-up sign to the people on stage signalling that the photograph was taken, after which the couple would whisper or say a 'Thank you'. I started noticing intently and realized that the couple were saying their 'thank you's to the photographer after each and every photograph. This was something I had never seen before. And the speciality about the whole incident is that each 'Thank you' came with a heart-warming smile.

The Dance Floor

Hunger seemed to creep in and most of the crowd that filled the reception hall filled the buffet hall, still leaving the reception hall looking crowded with happy families. I walked to the buffet counter and picked up my plate from the stacks of white plates. There were different dishes - chapatti, rice, curd, baby corn, paneer and other delicacies that I relish. Filling my plate with more than I could eat, I sat down beside a mother and her daughter and began eating as I watched a group of children playing.

Among them was a girl who seemed to be about 9-10 years old. She wore a pretty pink and gold dress whose long and flowing skirt she held in her hands, her bushy black hair flying behind her as she chased other taller boys who were older than her. She ran the entire distance of the buffet hall away from her brothers, laughing and smiling so beautifully. She was one of those little children that walked into the room and seemed to reverberate optimism.

After my dinner, one in which I ate even the tomatoes after looking at the women collecting the leftovers, I finally got myself to join the other children of my age. The awkwardness seemed to last not a second before it vanished and before I knew it, the little girl was pulling me and the girl in the blue dress to the large dance floor.

The DJ played different songs, mostly Hindi, all of which I was sure I heard on the radio at least once. Not being a fan of most of the songs, and shy enough to not even mimic any of the dance moves I simply clapped along and moved my feet according to the rhythm of the songs. My friend in blue tried dancing along and was actually quite good at it.

The little girl, however, was not one to bargain with. She tugged at my hands, pulled at my friend's hands and kept asking us to dance. She stood second in line with other girls in the front who danced as though they had already rehearsed for these songs. She moved along with them trying to do what they did and sometimes even added a few dance steps to her own liking. Far from us, away from the dance floor near the DJ stood her parents both looking at their daughter with so much admiration. 

In front of us, in the first line of girls dancing was a little girl dressed, as far as I can remember in a blue or red dress. She had her hair cut short falling just above her shoulders. She was, THE most confident among the other dancers and lip-synced every song the DJ played and danced to it with all the grace. Soon, this little girl became the centre of attraction. Crowds of parents then began to gather around, encouraging the little girls who danced, clapping along, capturing videos and even sometimes, forcing the reluctant boys to join. The younger of them, joined in but the older boys simply scooted away without being noticed.

Slowly, it started becoming late and all of the little girls scattered and the once filled dance floor was now empty with only two small girls dancing and me and my friend still standing there moving around and shaking our hands occasionally. The two small baby girls were dressed in pretty flowy gowns and a small necklace adorning their already small neck. The two girls jumped as high as their feet could take them which was no higher than half an inch above the ground. They turned around and around and around and suddenly switched to shaking their right hand and then the left. The DJ then would send out some coloured smoke and the two girls would come tottering to the centre of the floor to feel the haze on them.

EUPHORIA AND DANCES In a secluded corner stood a young man dressed in a handsome white kurta with an unreadable but broad smile. He stood with his hands crossed and watched the lovely couple, sitting next to the old lady in green. A few minutes later, I found him talking to my mother bending down slightly to meet her height. He spoke softly, as though he were a little child, a small smile tugging at the end of his face. He paid a compliment and after my mother thanked him for the encouragement, his soft smile slowly turned into a satisfied smile. 

After the bride and groom had dinner along with their family and a few close friends, they slowly walked to the dance floor and began dancing. It was all very spontaneous and once again, unexpected. But at the same time, it was sweet and lovely. They danced to Jimmiki Kammal and then a slow and dreamy Malayalam song (that's still stuck in my head) and then it switched to Tum hi Ho.

The groom twirled around the bride and both of them danced across the dance floor making it difficult for the audience to figure out who was leading the dance. They had wide, happy smiles plastered across their faces that didn't fade out. Photographers ran around trying to capture the moment in photographs. Among the audience, a few people stood out with their mobile phones trying to capture a video of their dance, their heads focused only on the dance and the phones sometimes going out of focus. Everyone watching the dance had a tranquil smile across their faces, some of who had their heads slightly tilted watching in admiration for the couple. And for the first time, I actually believed in the phrase, "Love is in the air".