I haven’t yet gotten over the frenzy of last fall – when I got married – and the wedding season is upon us again.
Weddings, are a burgeoning industry in India, with its size estimated to be Rs. 1,90,000 crores according to this story.
Interestingly, even as more and more of our youth marry for love, the Wedding ceremony, and associated celebrations, clearly continue to remain an ‘arranged’ affair – with the bride/ bridegroom managing to influence very little in terms of:
- Size of the wedding/ expenses
- Guest list
- Rituals – compounded in inter-caste and inter-religion weddings
- Or even how much make-up/ jewelery the girl should wear
Most relent out of regard for respective families, or give up after early efforts to persuade family elders, frustrated at the sheer futility of it all. A few succeed (then too – mostly – not without experiencing guilt of having ‘denied’ their families the joy of wedding celebrations).
Societal and peer pressure on parents and family plays an important role as ’size’ (big) gets associated with family status, which no one wants to compromise upon. Even if one side wants to keep it small, there is often resistance and sometimes friction.
The new urban bride too seems hugely pressured by peer behavior to follow the newly romanticized, exaggerated (and regressive) Indian bride’s conduct, as celebrated in the ‘Saas- Bahu’ television soaps that have dominated TV screens for the last few years.
Given that family plays an integral role even for the most modern of Indian youth, the couple often end up in a role-play and heave a sigh of relief when the ceremonies are finally over.
The drama continues for someone else.
Are you getting married this year? Is your Indian wedding fat too? Or on a diet? Is austerity also the flavour of this wedding season ?
Keep writing.
