A Catholic Wedding

I went to a catholic wedding the last week. The bride in question was my mom's good friends
daughter. I have only attended the church part of the ceremony once, for my friends sister's
wedding. This time i decided to pass the church ceremony. All these ceremonies are too solemn for
my liking. They are more reminiscent of funerals. In my more cynical moods i think i know why
that is so. We even used to joke that for my wedding , the schmucks would drive me to the wedding
in funeral casket. Anyway so i braved the Andheri traffic and reached the wedding reception. It always has struck me
how different a Catholic wedding reception is different from the varied Indian Styles. There is a
distinct effort made to have a good time , whereas the other Indian reception are a much more
formal effort with suitably grim expressions on the faces of the bride, the groom and immediate
family. Hmm bride's mother is looking suitably harried, I have to sit at a table with all my mom's ex
office colleagues. Unsurprisingly I'm the only one of my age group. Time to survey the
*surroundings* . Oh no not a pretty sight to be found. Ok maybe we are a bit early. People are
just starting to roll in , ah well all marriages are IST. Still not many sights to concentrate
on. I have sat in a bad location , have to keep performing the exorcist maneuver to look around. The host of ceremonies is a typical Goan Catholic gent , insists on making sidey jokes . Time to
gather round and throw confetti on the bride. Is this the bride? She looks different from what i
remember her to look like. Never ceases to amaze me how women can change their look and feel
completely. A different hairstyle , a different dress , a dab of makeup and voila new woman...I
think the surprise is writ large on my face ... Possibly the bride notices this and says 'Hi
deepak'. Ah just throw the damn confetti and get it over with. Hmm i thought it was supposed to
be rice...More bad jokes from the host. The cake is cut. The toast is uneventful , I don't take the wine .
Feel awkward as the only guy standing up without the wine glass in his hand. Time for the wedding
march . Always bring back (bad) memories of friends sisters wedding. Time for the first dance ,
the circle is all holding balloons. Moms colleagues ask why I'm not dancing with anyone. Yah right. The dance begins , I don't recognize the song. Balloons are released. Another powerful sight , The
balloons rising high to escape into the sky, why does it impress us so. Is it the silent yearning
to be free? Home the second best girl is decent looking. Another woman is red is decent as well.
Perhaps this is not a complete waste of a day. Time to rush to eat before the queue begins. Oops we have reached before the bride and groom .Have
to wait looking around like fools till they have sampled everything. Ok food is decent. Time to
go on stage. Meet brides mom with the good looking best girl. Her name is some hegde .. My community. Didn't know they made them this way in the shetty community except in the movies of course. Sudden apprehension of arranged marriage strikes me. I don't have to worry , the female seems to completely ignore me anyhow , nothing new there. Go on stage now . Pose for photograph. Yeah time to go home. Oh no it strikes the middle aged crowd they haven't had the ice creams. A brief debate ensues and the Ice Cream wins. I have a bad throat and cant partake. Someone brings up the topic of when my marriage is .Arrgh why is so difficult for people to understand that not everyone wants to get married when they are 27. Oh no this topic is now picked up by everyone. Oh wait for it now Inter Community marriages are brought up. My parents are probably paranoid about this anyway hoping that i wont follow in my brothers footsteps (though i have every intention of doing so)10 o'clock loudspeakers off. In two minds about this ban. Finally time to go home. Conclusion : Court Marriage is the only sane alternative.