In cases where the question of wedding rites and rituals arise, as in case of inter-community marriages, it is the groom’s parents who call the shots. The wedding is mostly carried out according to their rituals. But these days the bride’s desire to follow her own community’s rituals for the last time through her wedding rites is increasingly being taken into account. But Anamika and Ishaan’s wedding was no conventional affair. Because it was the bride who called all the shots and had the wedding the way she wanted to.
Ishaan was sure of one thing: he wanted Anamika to be his. He did not care what rituals were followed or if they were followed or not. His parents were equally cool and were not the conventional kinds. As far as Anamika’s family was concerned, her parents did not have any problem as long as she was happy. Perhaps, this is the outcome of having lived in different countries at different times in life.
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Anamika always fancied herself as the typical yet stylish Bengali bride, clad in red saree with big and heavy ornaments. She was in love with the traditional play with the beetle leaves and the custom where the bride’s brothers carried her seven times around the groom. But then, she also fancied the ‘sangeet’ and the ‘sagaai’ functions which were carried out on a rather lavish scale amongst Marwaris (Ishaan’s community).
Naturally it was very difficult to merge and mingle the two customs together in a single ceremony. Somehow Anamika was made to see the reason in the scenario. Moreover, the society and the relatives were to be taken care of as well, at least their opinion. So something had to be devised that suited the desires of the bride and the accepted notion of a suitable wedding in the society.
It was eventually decided that the engagement or “sagaai’ and “sangeet” functions prior to the wedding were to be performed in Marawari style and the main wedding in typical Bengali style. Anamika had the last word as well as the last laugh and no sooner was the decision made than she got all engrossed in the preparations of the two big days of her life.
It was obvious that a wedding planner would be required to take care of both the major events. The agency entrusted with the task planned both the days well and also spoke to the people on both the sides, informed them with the bare basic rituals of each other. For example, Anamika’s parents were intimated with every detail regarding the ‘Shagun’ and the gifts to be given to Ishaan’s family and relatives. Similarly, Ishaan’s family was apprised with all the rituals of the Bengali wedding and in what way their participation was to be.
Same venue was booked for both the days and kudos to the decorators engaged who decorated it according to the community taste on the respective days. On both the days Bengali as well as Marwari cuisine was served, along with Mexican, Chinese and Italian.
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But the essential charm of it all lay in the fact that people on either side had dressed according to each other’s custom. It was very overwhelming to observe the efforts made by Ishaan and Anamkia’s parents to make the entire wedding a very memorable affair.
