Chalo Delhi -2 - Delhi Ki Shadi

I had planned my vacation in December because a lot of marriages were planned in these month. One was Sameer’s wedding in Delhi, another friend’s wedding in Mumbai. Another friend getting married in the same month. It looked like the month of marriages.

To tell the truth, I was planning to kill two birds with one stone, attending the marriage as well as do some sightseeing in Delhi. Although the prime objective was still the marriage, I somehow planned the sightseeing around the wedding.

The invitation said the the barat would leave house at 2:00 PM. The marriage was to be in Rohtak. Calculating that the procession would take atleast 3-4 hours. So I had to reach the marriage venue at 6:00 PM in the evening. What I did not calculate was that Rohtak was not like a suburb in Delhi. It was a town in Haryana, another state altogether. When we left Delhi, a ride I had assumed would take just an hour took more than 3 hours.

By the time we reached the venue, the party was in full swing. A snacks corner at one end of the venue was entertaining with the delicious Delhi chat. The other end was ready with the Dinner. Lots of people with the typical wedding jewellery and dresses. There was even a dance floor with DJ blaring loud music. Surprisingly, for a wedding, everyone was moving around doing nothing. A few curious glances toward us and they left us pretty much to ourselves. There was absolutely no action happening in the hall. It was pretty strange. Everyone was so laid back, enjoying the snacks and drinks.

Again it was taking way too much time for the groom and bride to arrive on the scene. We even had our dinner in the break trying out the delicacies paneer and north Indian dishes. We came back to the hall to find the hall still empty. What was happening?

When we inquired around, the answer was “The marriage is not over. The groom has not arrived yet”

The barat left at 2:00 PM, the current time was 10:30 PM. Eight hours and still no sign of the barat/groom, forget the wedding. If I compare this with a wedding in Mumbai, by this time, everybody is ready to go home. If they are going to come at this time, when will they get married?

The barat finally came at 11:00 PM. I met Sameer who was still on the chariot. He was happy to see me and he had almost lost hope of me attending the wedding. The wedding was still a long way off. The night was just starting and they had not even started the wedding.

As I learnt from Sameer and his friend, a normal North Indian wedding is a big big affair. The day starts with a number of function. Then the groom goes to the temple riding a horse. The process is called “Ghoodchadi” (Riding a horse). Once back from the temple, the actual barat starts to the bride’s place or the wedding place. On reaching the venue, the groom and his family is greeted by the bride family members. The next procedure is of garlanding each other and then the saat pheres and the rest of the function. The whole wedding takes place till the wee hours of the morning.

Three of us were awake for more than 20 hours and it was certainly not possible to stay the whole night. We left after the “Varmala” (garlanding) function.

Three days later I attended a Marathi wedding in Mumbai. I could not help but notice the stark difference between the two weddings. While the wedding in Delhi was tiring and time consuming and grand, the one in Mumbai was over in half day, was not so grand and certainly not as much as tiring. I found the North Indian wedding a big show off, with due apologies to all North Indian.

Indians are known to have grand function and even grander weddings. Although the functions remain similar, the way a wedding is conducted in different part of India is total different from each other. Next wedding, maybe one in South and North-east India.