Of summer weddings, kanjeevaram silks and menu cards!

Monsoon wedding: the title of a famous movie. I should have shot my own and called it "Summer Weddings". Two very close friends tied the knot one after another and I had the privilege of attending both weddings.

Before I left to attend the first wedding, I was enjoying a cup of coffee with a friend and she said, "South Indian weddings are so boring. We North Indians know how to have fun at a wedding!" All the while, I kept thinking, "How condescending!" And when I was at the wedding, I couldn't help but think about what she'd said. I had a lot of fun at the wedding. I met old friends, made some new ones, ragged the couple, talked about the old times, sang, played... OK, I didn't dance and there was no booze at these weddings. So does the absence of these things make the wedding boring? I fail to see why or how. I've never associated weddings with dancing and alcohol, and as a result, I don't dance even at weddings of North Indian friends (OK, I don't dance at all... so what?).

I'd picked out the saris that I would wear at these weddings well in advance. Printed silk, Tussar, Kanjeevaram, Kora Silk, Mangalgiri and even a Paithani. I could manage the silks in Bangalore, but Madras was a different story. I unpacked and kept looking at the heavy silks but to each function, I ended up wearing a light silk or cotton. I knew I wasn't dressed appropriately enough, but I didn't want to suffer at the venue. (Looking at women in their heavy kanjeevarams made me perspire even more.) I saved my heavy kanjeevaram for the reception and then at the last minute, switched to a hand embroidered Tussar. I knew I shouldn't have, but my friend told me I was looking very nice when she dropped me off at the venue. Even the bride told me it was a pleasant sari and said she was glad I wasn't as uncomfortable as she was. But then I got talking to someone at dinner. And the lady said, "The groom is like your younger brother, and you didn't pick a grand sari to wear to his reception! If not for an occasion such as this, when will you wear those saris?" That did it. She told me exactly what I didn't want to hear and made me feel like a worm. Someone, who means a lot to me, tied the knot. I went all the way from here to there to attend the wedding. I think that says a lot, but I guess it really doesn't.

In between the functions, I had to kill time. So I dragged a friend to the Chennai Citi Centre. First impression: It’s a badly planned place. Maybe, with time, it will get better... or we'll get used to it. As soon as we entered the building, I needed a drink. We walked to a juice and gelato stall. I was astonished at the prices. So we walked across to another stall. The guy promptly handed me a menu. I pored over it and then decided to have a Peach Iced Tea. When I placed my order, the guy said, "Only lemon available, nothing else." Why bother with a huge menu?? Then we went to Coffee Day. Again, as we were seated, I was handed a menu card. The two of us went over every item and then decided to have a Cranberry Granita each. Shouldn't we have known better than to order an iced drink on a hot summer afternoon? How stupid of us to want to order a granita when CCD was out of ice. I just couldn't believe it. Three fourths of what CCD has on offer in the beverages section has ice as a main ingredient. Didn't the guy think it was necessary to tell us before hand... I suppose not. Lesson learnt for CCD? NO!!
The following evening, I went with another friend to another CCD. Again, we're handed a menu... and after I asked if everything was available, the guy said, "Everything is available. Except for...!!" What's with these places? Can they not stock up on ice in summer? Or is it deliberate? To make sure the lower priced drinks are made unavailable so that we'd have to pick the more expensive stuff.

There will always be things that will remain beyond my comprehension. And, as always, I bow to the powers that be!