One Marriage - Two ceremonies !

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) .