Its been a while since I last wrote a post-almost a year long sabbatical !
Recently a very close family friend's daughter ( Hindu ) got married to a Goan Christian and we attented the wedding at Hyderabad (our friends being from Andhra ). The rituals were held according to Andhra tradition and the groom (and his family ) went along with it with total involvement. The poor couple were subjected to long drawn rituals (like all Hindu weddings ! ). The charming groom kept a pleasant and smiling face all through the ceremony - in fact it was the beautiful bride who got irritated with certain rituals. One of the rituals required the couple to look at each other- the priest ,unable to suddenly switch from Telgu to English blurted out "pass glance " ! That certainly amused the guests and totally embarrassed the couple ! After the ceremony was over the couple accompanied by the priest (and of course a whole lot of relatives and friends ! ) went out into the open. The ritual required the couple to look at "
Arundhati' star, pointed to them by the priest, and vow to be faithful to one another. By now , the couple were totally exhausted & fed up of the rituals-" Even if you don't see anything , tell him you can see it.I am going to say the same " whispered the bridel to groom.
A few monthe later the couple had a church wedding with the bride looking radiant in a flowing white silk and pearls wedding gown, complete with a tiara perched on her head. A simple ceremony in the church followed by a well attended reception followed by food & dancing ( as per the Goan Catholic custom) .