The Indian Wedding, is as primordial as the great deities of old that are penned in legends and lore. It is ancient, it is traditional and well it’s a whole lot of fun. I haven’t really attended an Indian wedding in totality. No one close to me has actually gotten married. Until last week when my sister tied the knot. And so here I am, writing about the great happiness of the Indian wedding tamasha. That joy that accompanies the craziness. That feeling of family colliding with traditions and the mixing of cultures. That feeling of bringing two people together, forever and always. Marriage is an age-old canticle beaten into the earth by the feet of our brides as they walk down the aisle, and this is my ode to it.

What I love the most about an Indian wedding is the co-mingling of culture. In the vast land of the subcontinent, no one family is the same. Families vary from neolocal to patrilocal to matrilocal all the way down in the South. Brides are decked up in gold and diamonds or maybe nothing but flowers and silks. The color once scarlet and gold now varies to pearl and rose, ice blue and baby pink. Weddings range from crores to a few rupees in rural areas. Even caste and religion are now defied in an attempt to come together in the way of love.

We’ve always been a very small family. Our grandparents scattered across the plains of North India. Our few cousins, uncles and aunts spread across the globe. So when my sister got engaged I found a new family dynamic coming into play. And truly, brothers are all the jazz that theya re described to be here. What with my Jiju coming to rescue my friends and me from Haryana Police at Cyber Hub and figuring out travel plans for foreign best friends. It was a revelation to me, to have one more sibling in the immediate vicinity.

There are very few people in the world that I consider truly close to my heart. My sister has always been one. She is my star on a cloudy night, a guiding light, my very best friend in the whole universe. There is no one I love more. She is the better person, she is kind and generous and unfailingly good. She loves and loves and just continues to love. She gives in to my bratty tantrums and we can never stay mad at each other for longer than ten minutes. She is my person. And while I like to say she is blessed with me, the truth is that in this journey of life, she continues to be the best gift in my life, all day every day. I aspire to how kind she is, I aspire to better myself so I can make her as happy as she makes me. 

When I gave her to my Jiju I did it with the utmost trust and faith that he was the one person in the world who would make her happy beyond words. The kind of happiness that cannot be described in words, that is witnessed only by all the greater beings in the universe and the stars who sing their stories. Or in Delhi’s case, the pollution that clouds the sky. That is the kind of happiness I wish for the two of them and believe that they can give each other. 

This isn’t going to be a very long piece, just a reflection of the few things I wish for my sister to have as she begins this new journey in her life. Here goes –

“People are usually blessed with one set of parents. With one family. You two have been blessed with two of everything. Two sets of parents, may they always have health, may you always have their blessings and with those blessings, paneer, hummus, pesto, kebabs and biryani. 

You also happen to have two sisters. And while that is blessing enough, I hope that you are blessed further with always having them near your side in life, to walk alongside you, to keep you warm on cold nights and give you clothes when you are in an immediate fashion crisis. 

Should you want children may they be born healthy and hopefully female because God knows we need more daughters, not to mention how many cute clothes you can buy them. I also hope and pray for any future children that be named nice normal names, I pray that their parents don’t name them things like Apple or North West or Blue Ivy. 

May you always have a small joy in every day of your life. A cup of steaming hot chocolate on a December morning. A really breath-taking work out. A sunrise tinted cherry pink and lavender and sunsets comprising of scarlets and golds. Flowers for your garden. A new outfit to wear that makes you feel royal. Music that speaks to your soul. Impromptu dance parties with the RIGHT speakers. Lights and paintbrushes. Dogs. Sisters. Friends to keep you company and family to keep your hearth warm. 

May you travel the world and see things that surprise you. Have something to laugh about together. Learn something new everyday. Find time for each other everyday. Find a new way to make each other smile every day. Find kindness and generosity and goodness in every corner of your life. 

When I think of you, I think of only the happiest things. Pessimist though I am, the glass is always half full when it comes to you, because I cannot fathom any negativity or nazar even daring to approach the two of you from a distance. However life tends to be unpredictable and should any darkness come near your bubble of happiness, I wish for you to have the strength to overcome it. 

These are the things I hope for you. 

Joy.

Sukh.

Khushi.

Blessings.

Aashirwad.

Duas.

These are the things I hope for you.

And may it always be so.”