Band, Baaja, Baraat & Riddhie

“No sooner had Riddhie arrived, that the three most important weddings in the family were fixed. Riddhie attended her first wedding function couple of weeks ago and I guess she did not quite like the big, fat, Indian wedding”.

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I guess we were perhaps asking a lot from our little princess who was all but four months and a couple of days old when she attended her first full blown wedding function. If it weren’t the blaring speakers or the loudest of dhols, it was perhaps the scores of affectionate uncles and aunts who took turns to pet her and plant a kiss or two on her cheeks that upset her because our little angel really went berserk.

WEDDING I

It was the wedding of Riddhie’s aunt (her mom’s real close first cousin) which we could not miss, come what may. Now people who know how middle/upper-middle class Punjabi weddings work, would know that it is almost a week long parade of flashy clothes and jewellery and tons of sweetmeats and dancing, on out of tune brass bands and drums for hours at a stretch, not to mention dozens of pot bellied, middle aged uncles in their cream or grey safari suits, high on some relatively cheap Indian whiskey and acting ‘pricey’ for little or no reason

Squeeze all this and more, on an infant and I am sure the results are quite predictable. While the loud noise from the drums scared Riddhie no end, she could not care any more for the little trapeze act which she underwent - hopping from one arm to the other as every member of the family wanted to hold my little bundle of joy for a moment or two. While the entire family fought a lost battle trying to pacify her, Riddhie kept raising a note or two and bawled her heart out.

The three hours which her mother spent getting ready and perfecting a dazzling appearance at the wedding met with a super anti-climax for as soon as she came back after her parlor appointment, Riddhie started crying. The next three hours passed by with me and her mother taking turns trying to console our little princess. (Personally I think she could not recognize her mom’s familiar everyday face behind all the blush and lip gloss and eye shadows, but I did not dare say so). By the time my girl decided to call it a day and took a nap, the wedding function was all over. We could barely manage to be in time to wish the couple and have our dinner before the tents were taken off.

By the time, the day got over, the strain of handling the entire situation had taken its toll. We as parents, were exhausted and perhaps so was Riddhie. Now the entire episode had us in panic since it was only two weeks to the next bigger wedding function – that of my brother and Riddhie’s uncle. This meant that we had to train her to the sounds and the frenzy of people that were expected to storm the house and that too in a fortnight.

WEDDING II

This was by far the most important marriage in the family and having learnt from the previous experience, we decided to plan in advance. We, as parents ensured that she learnt to cope up and be friendly with at least two more members in the family and trusted them to be with them for longer periods of time. Also, clear instructions about how to feed her and hold her comfortably were given to a maid who, we decided would be with our little princess all the time when we would be busy attending to people or getting ready. Additionally, we worked out Riddhie’s schedule and her mother took extra care in packing her bags and planning her clothes and necessities well in advance to avoid any last minute inconveniences. To top that, we ensured that Riddhie had her full quota of sleep during the day and looked to it that she was not disturbed by the swarming guests in the house. I am sure a few of my relatives would hold a grudge against me now, since I just forbade any unnecessary access to my princess and disallowed people holding her just out of affection if not needed.

I guess our little arrangements went well and Riddhie displayed exemplary patience on the three days when wedding festivities were in full swing. Her fear was now transformed to delight and amazement. She got slightly accustomed to the loud drums and all the music and zillions of people around her. The day of the wedding and the reception dinner the following night went by with her being looked after by selected people only which meant that she did not feel unnecessary hassled by everyone wanting to hold her. We ensured that she slept in time and was fed properly at regular intervals and this kind of worked well both for us and our little princess.

Riddhie has by now, I believe, gotten used to a little circus around her all the time and has started enjoying all the attention she gets. Our little angel is learning to cope up with little inconveniences and deviations from her routine life and I am in a way proud of her and the way she has ‘adjusted’ to the people and frenzy around her.

Something inside tells me that perhaps she would turn out to be more social than both of her parents put together. Perhaps as she grows up and finds her way and place in the world, she would have lesser time for her old man and his eccentricities. Well, till that happens, I would recline and look back at my little bundle of joy and the pictures of her appearances on the social circuit.