VAANGOOO VANGOOO Vanakam ... " In Tamil it means please Welcome Welcome.. Namasakarams"
Flashback ... As the wheel turns back to 6 years...
I had come to Chennai to visit my cousins, well hey first introduction about me, being a Scorpion hogging the limelight and "Me FIRST,ME FIRST" comes but very naturally to me. Well my name is Shakthi, i am born in the land of the Rasogollas, my grand father settled down in Calcutta "now Kolkata" at the time of the British Raj, he worked for a famous Tea company during the rule of the Great Queen Elizabeth the "24/32/36" well i am not that good with numbers, This i could decipher after carefully observing a very old photo of her's which my grandpa had with him, maybe he too was kind of awe struck with her beauty.
Coming back "Cofee Sir" asks the sweaty 42 year old server mama, adjusting his 80's modeled glasses and carefully trying to wedge a balance between the cofee jug, the small thin paper cups and the ever slipping towel from his shoulder. The looks of the towel one does get a feel that, maybe somewhere in the past it would have been gifted to him by the ever young Heartthrob of millions actress even still mine ;) "Sridevi" ,whilst he served her cofee. The Towel was white or Darkish Brown in nature was kind of quite difficult to fathom.
"Ile Sir Vendam" No Please,Thank you sir. i was in Chennai a city which would boast itself of "Four Beautiful Seasons" in a Year, Yes i am not joking. One can experience the four different seasons as follows
1. Light Summer.
2. Hot Summer.
3. Very Hot Summer.
4. Damn It's F***king Hot Summer.
Still even though the city had freakishly,high soaring temperatures, i found that the people in the city were always game for a cup of cofee. Wether it was 5:00 Am in the morning or 9:00 in the night. Any household that you visit were always ready to serve you with a piping hot Filter Cofee. With the passage of time and the growing opportunities in the field of IT, and the breakneck speed at which women in the country are growing,competing and in most cases outperforming the men. The Men in South India have had to settle for the Instant and Ready made Cofee in place of the Ethnic and Authentic Filter Cofee. Till one gets a cofee no complains i give out a smile.
I am at T.Nagar or the hub of Chennai, or maybe shall i say router, well excuse me i am kinda trying to write a Cisco networking Exam, and using these terminologies kind of give me a small sense of Happiness, that i know something.
The Marriage is of a dear friend of mine "Rohit" he is getting married, Rohit is well my MCA mate, he comes from a typical South Indian "Iyer" Brahmin Family, and yes he is one who is of the courageous hero type's that i kinda know.
You would be thinking "Courageous Hero Type's....
Did He do one of the following ...
1. Scale Mount Everest.
2. Swim the Arabian Sea or the Indian Ocean.
3. Fight the Terrorists.
4. Jump into a Burning House and save Somebody.
Come On... these are all kiddish stuffs, You know what he has done . "HE FELL IN LOVE" and he is going to get married to a "North Indian Punjabi Girl" ... :) . You would be asking me hey come on, only Love Marriage yaar. Well this term would be kinda easy to digest way up north in the country, but back down south. this is still a Taboo. Even till date the parents of a South Indian guy or girl chooses the better half for them,as their parents or their fore fathers would have done.
I was there when "Rohit" first confessed to him mom about "Gowri". Him MOM went exactly as Kiran Kher did in the starting scene of "OM SHANTI OM" well then the line was "NAHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN", here cut to Chennai it was a Tamil word "MURUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA " a Tamil god who i am sure would have never ever slept in his life peacefully, as he gets always called each and every-time when calling one of his sub ordinates or sub junior gods, would have been more than enough.
As i had said i am settled in Calcutta .. My dad always calls out to "Lord Muruga after his morning Shower", and the maid at home once just had to ask my Mom in Bengali "BOUDI DADA ROJ SHOKAL MURGA MURGA, KENO BOLE" ... well in English to put in English and in simpler terms, " BHABI why does DADA always call out MURGA MURGA" ... well MURGA in Hindi means "Chicken" or "Murgi" in Hindi. hm-mm see i told you this god can never rest, maybe lord Shiva should have patented his name.
Anyways, yes where was i, i was now in the dining hall it was around 8.30 am and that breakfast was getting served, the breakfast boasted of both North Indian and South Indian Cuisine, Gowri's dad was a Punjabi and mother a UP'ite, I loved it my favorite Vada and Rasmalai for breakfast, may there be more marriages like this, great food. i gorge on a second helping of Rasmalai and make myself comfortably seated at the last row of the layed out chairs. Rohit notices me and makes sign's wanting me to come to the first row, com-eon i was his friend and how could i sit in the first row and see him getting executed one last time. I am kidding Gowri is one of the sweetest girl that Rohit could have wished for, and when Rohits mom did come to me, i just told her even if you would have searched you would not have found someone as sweet as Gowri.
KATIMALAM KATIMALAM ..... yells out the brahmin priest, a sign he makes to the men with the drums and trumpets to play the ritual wedding tune, which is played at the time the groom ties a knot around the brides neck. The Groom makes a promise to the brides father that he would take the best care of his daughter, and take care of her better than he ever did.
I have a small tear in my eye, i am happy that after all the convincing and the hardships that both Rohit and Gowri undertook, they were happily married with the blessing of elders in both the families. A hand slightly touches my shoulder i turn around and mom is standing behind me. As any dear mom in any corner of the world " She asks Saptiya"
which mean's had food, no matter how big we get or how bigger post we manage in our lives, we would always love our Mom's to ask us this simple question.
She say's "Shakthi get married, beta it's your life, i want you to be Happy". I am not saying that the girl should be from my caste,language or creed. You both should be happy, and she should love you for the way you are that's what i want. i notice a small tear in the corner of my mom's eye's. I give her a hug and tell her, yes ma i will tell you when i find someone who loves me.
She pinches my cheeks and gives out her ever loving smile "Thanks Beta". "Ok Maa" i will make a leave, she asks me aren't you going to the mandap for a photo with Rohit and Gowri. Maa yea i will just be back. i leave the mandap and decide to take a walk in the street adjacent to the Mandap, My Mom has always yearned for a daughter, and now she so desperately wants me to get married and settle down.
Whenever she asks me "Beta, you love someone, are you going to introduce me to her, Are you guys going to get married"
I am all but CLUELESS .........
- Anand
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