Marriages are made in... India.

They say there are three seasons- summer, winter, and the monsoon. But in India there is another set of seasons, which no Indian can deny- family bonding, festivals and weddings.

Recently I attended my cousins wedding and realised how the Indian mentality is deeply affected by this institution more than anything else.

And if you think it is only the big wedding day, you are wrong. It begins much before it. It begins with the 'girl-meeting-boy' story. Only that happens in the presence of some fifty odd members of the family, closely scrutinising the persons-in-question's every move. If the boy says yes, 'shagun', a token of love is send from each side to the other.

Then begins the preparations for the wedding day, an impossible task for a single person. From lighting up the house to the food selection, everything has to be done strictly by a family member. And under the pretext of helping with the wedding arrangements, distant chachis and mamis begin flocking around the household giving it a new zing and life.

Children running around the house, the pretty sweet cousins and friends, teasing the bride and groom (in their respective households) and men authoratively ordering the workers is a common sight in a wedding house. Aunty-jis, wearing bright clothes and loaded with gold, take care of the costumes, while the uncle-jis see to it that all the shopping is well funded. And the ladies of the house are not at all tired of rehearsing their dance steps for the sangeet, late into the night.

And let me tell you, even though you may feel that the wedding is a short affair after all, that's absolutely bad judgement on your part. Indian weddings are definitely not a day- affair. It has to go on for a couple of days or even a week sometime. And every function is attached with an unknown importance of its own.

Amidst all the clamour, the bride, shying away from her teasing friends, applies mehendi on her hands and feet. The Bollywood songs, which are innumerable, given the fact that every movie includes a shaadi, are playing at the background for the movie-effect.
Then comes the sangeet, where even the great grandfather of the groom shakes a leg with style. No one, even the shy bhabhiji doesn’t wither away from dancing on this occasion.

And finally the day of the wedding arrives, and everything goes to a whole new level. It is a time when two families come together, not just to wed their children but to see if the other family is worth their child! And this is measured on the amount of gold, ghee and ras-malai served in the wedding!

The band baaja ringing in one's ear, the groom descends on a ghodi (a mare) to the bride's house accompanied by the baaraatis (meaning his large extended family).

And the wedding ceremony takes place while chachiji checks out mausijis gold bangles and exclaims, "Oh! Gold ke daam kitne badh gaye hain!", while mamijis try to fix up their daughters' marriages with some rich handsome guy in the wedding and while the groom's best man tries to pataao a young hot chick from the bride's side.

And amidst all this chaos, lies the future of the two souls getting together for life.

And then it feels like the rivers may flood, as its time for Bidaai, the ultimate occassion to cry. The bride's eyes get watery as she's leaving her home, and in joins her papa-mummy, didi-bhaiyya, dada-dadi, nana-nani, and the innumerable chacha-chachis, mama-mamis and mausa-mausis, along with the kiddie gang of the house.

And then it all ends and everyone bids goodbye to one another and promise to meet up in the next wedding.   

But why do Indians have such extravagant weddings? True, that it is all about fun and enjoyment of the occasion, but beneath all this lies the fact that all this helps the two families gel well, and get comfortable with each other, thus making them a part of the other's family.

And it really does take all this chaos, khatpat and the chutzpah for a successful marriage, after all!!!