the big fat Indian wedding

I have lost count of the number of weddings I have attended this year. And mind you, there are still 10 months more to it!!
My picasa album is filled with wedding pics and my inbox (postal invites to my residence are banned as they put my mum on a hyperventilating mode) receives an average atleast two wedding invites every week......classmates, juniors, seniors, all racing madly to the altar.
And my classmates (guys) are coyly (if that adjective can be applied to them) announcing that their wives are pregnant! Listen, I am all happy for you people, just as long as you'll dont pop that "when is yours" question on us or worse still launch into the "get married soon" advice mode.
What's up folks?? Is it the economic boom?? Will a recession encourage people to stay single for some more time as Amit Varma says?!
In the meanwhile, I have decided to invest in atleast one or twodecent wedding outfits. Actually my friends have threatened me into it. They dont want me in my faded cottons ruining an otherwise classy wedding pic!
But if you are a close friend of the bride, there is actually little choice, you cant wear anything but a saree, its something like, "I as the bride have to wear one and you have to share my misery".
While I am mooning over where to shop and my budget and juggle mehendis' and sangeets, there are a few other things that caught my attention......for one, most of the weddings were "love marraiges"! hurrah people! And for those who took the "arrangement of love" route, more hurrahs!! It sure takes more commitment and from the looks of it, it sounds like even more fun. After all, you can flirt and "kuchi-koo", as parents and folks smilingly indulge you'll.
I am very glad for my friends, for having found love and a companion for life ahead....wishes for a glorious walk into the sunset!
One important trend is the growing number of parents who have relented to "love matches".....there have sure been quite a few anti-climaxes here. I must say I am disappointed with my friends' parents for being so soft. I feel sorely cheated of my moment of feeling any tangible difference.
Of what use were all the long chats and clandestine sessions on the terrace, where I suggested strategies and arguments to my friends who wanted to persuade their parents of the love match. Of what use where those painstaking cover-ups and phone calls to convince friends' mums blessed-with ESPs that I was meeting their daughters on besant nagar beach, while I was watching an old film on the tv??
I am seeing my maternal grandfather with new-found respect. He locked away my aunt when she said she wanted to marry someone outside the "community". They also say that he used a bit of force on her before finally giving in. How vindicated her friends must have felt?!
And finally, the trend of socially-approved live-ins and flirting and romancing all over the city and cyberspace. All you have to do is get a simple engagement ring and folks are happy to look the other way. The one-year engagement is really in vogue, some are even lucky to have the two-year ones. Man, how much lucky can one get?!
As I am struggling to schedule a particular sunday, which will see one friend and one junior tying the knot and another old classmate's engagement, I call out to meki, lavy, divs,vini and sai.....my fellow oarswomen on the seriously endangered single-gal raft.
Dont bailout in a hurry, okay?!