no gals I am still available, it was my sis marriage.

28th May, 2010 was the day decided by the God to grant me full independence. It was the day of my sister's marriage. But the freedom didn't come so easy. I was made to work really hard to earn it. Only a brother can understand of all sorts of things that he has to go through in his sister marriage!

In India, marriage ceremony in not a one-day affair, but a complete test match. You have functions like godh, tikka,raatjaagi, sangeet, baan, haldad, varmaala, phere, pagphera and dont know what else. I don't know the exact purpose of all such functions but they surely allow one to spend time with his/her family. (Note herein family is referred to all the ascendant and descendant of your mother and father and their respective family)

12th May was the day when my exams got over. It was also the day when the shield which was preventing me from all sorts of marriage related work got lifted and I became an open target.

On 15th was the godh-tikka ceremony. Godh-tikka is the ceremony where first all the elder gents gather around the bridegroom and takes him into their custody, followed by all the ladies taking taking bride in custody. After they are let free, everyone exchanges with everyone else  something in a sealed envelope. The most amazing part is everyone denies to accept the envelop as if it contains a bomb, but after being satisfied that it has nothing harmful in it, everyone accept it.

Thankfully this function was from boy's side. So I had no major work to do. But how can the world tolerate that bride's brother has no work to do? So the designer made a blunder and stitched the wrong dress for me. It was 13th and the function was on 15th morning. But thankfully he had an exhibition piece which he altered and made it ready. But in all this hush-bush I wasn't even able to enjoy the exam-ending-outing with my friends.

The function was the usual one with bride's brother asking everyone if they need anything, have they eaten the snacks, have they taken the lunch.. cmon, they all are grown up, I don't need to babysit them! And then you have to prove everyone that your back in made up of rubber by bending and touching the feet of every elder. And how can I forget those precisely cloned questions from every second person, "Oh my God! You have grown so tall! (As if I had any other choice). What is your height? (Are you gonna use me as an inch tape?) What do you do? (Oh! I am a murderer.) How were you exams? (No comments, please!)

You see everyone having lunch but being the co-host, you are not allowed to have any. Its only at the end when everyone from the boy's side have eaten up and waiters are about to throw the remainder in the sewage that you get something to eat. And then after some more back exercise, you say goodbye to boy's family and take the first breathe of the day.

Click here to read Part 2 of the series Wedding.