Thursday, March 26, 2009

Twist to the tale

Indian history is a testimony to Rajput warrior, Prithviraj Chauhan’s commitment towards his lady love. When her marriage was arranged to someone else by her parents, he came riding in a horse and took her away from the place where the marriage was to be solemnised. This spoke of his true love for his beloved.

In the Ramayana, a great Indian epic, we have heard of Ravana who in his unstoppable fury came in the form of a deer and enticed Sita, and took her away to Lanka. That led to the battle which finally ended in Ravana being defeated, and Sita being rescued and brought back to Ayodhya. This symbolizes the victory of good over evil

In the Mahabharata, another great Indian epic, we have heard of Draupadi, who was wedded to the five Pandava brothers, being disrobed. This amongst other things led to the fiercely led battle at Kurukshetra between the the Pandavas and Kauravas, all of them brothers. Again, victory of good over evil.

The Indian system of arranged marriage calls for eligible men to visit the would be bride’s home and approve of her after a fleeting glance at her. We have heard of men in such situations being besotted by the would be bride’s beautiful younger sister, and finally getting married to her. Love is not always blind.

A recent press insertion in the local newspaper was rather interesting. The marriage rituals were on, and the couple had to exchange garlands to signify their acceptance of each other. Amidst much fanfare, the bride groom garlanded the bride, and when it was the turn of the bride, she turned around and garlanded the photographer. There was utter shock, dismay and disbelief but the marriage was solemnized with the photographer who happened to be her earlier boyfriend. Scientifically looked at, this was ‘photochemistry’ whereas in the Rajput warrior’s case, it was ‘horse power’.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

The 'photographer' tale is spine- chilling...haha! My condolences to the poor groom:( He must've been the laughing stock for a long time... and the ex- boyfriend didn't exactly belong to the cadre of Prithviraj Chauhan, did he?:)

Saritha said...

Lol the bride got her love in a unique way
Bridegroom:((

Pearl said...

These kinds of stories make me wish that I lived in a country with a contiguous history. Our traditions are what survive (through obstinance or through majority) and so much is lost...

Pearl

Sharmistha Guha said...

Gutsy girl, I must say!!!
But at the cost of the poor groom-to-be!

Prem said...

well that was defnitely a great list of tales of love but i must say that the last tale was photofinish for one and a bad negative for another

Kavi said...

It must have been a filmy visual delight !

I too click a few photographs. Such instances dont come my way sir ! Not that i am looking forward to these...

But you know...i wonder how it would be !?!

;)

Eskimo Bob said...

Thanks for visiting the blog - the way we get our brides is not so different.

We go out on the ice flows and get a bearded or ring seal. Then we gut said seal and make a beaded necklace out of the small intestine. Then in the gathering hut we make our intentions known - (what? I'm not just making this . . . OK.)

Thank you for sharing insights into your culture -

nsiyer said...

Naperville mom,embarassing yes but where is the choice?

Varunavi, yes quite unique. Thanks.

Pearl, thanks for coming over. Traditions say so much.

SGD, EXACTLY AT WHAT COST ?

nsiyer said...

Thanks Prem. I liked the positive and negative of the photofinish.

Kavi! fervently hope that you don't click in marriages. We have Mrs. Kavi to think about.

Bob, the way you write your posts, it is difficult to distinguish when you are being serious and when light.

Anonymous said...

Now, I know why I don't give in to the impulse of 'clicking' during weddings;) And Kavi, I hope you take iyersaab's advice:) Enjoyed the post:)

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Fascinating stories. I'm glad that here in the states we are able to choose our mates. If it were up to my parents... I don't even want to go there!!!

Anonymous said...

Lol.. though not ramayana or mahabharat, true love it is

Ugich Konitari said...

I get this uncontrollable urge to wildly applaud the bride, What a simply wonderful story, And with all the checking of things both the sides do, nobody noticed the bride had a boyfriend ? .....

Sridhar said...

This type of incident was also shown in a popular Tamil serial a year back. Nowadays girls are more Gutsy. I only wish that she should have the same guts to tell her parents and marry him Avoid such an embarrassment for her parents. Parents need to be taken care of by their kids.We give lots of freedom nowadays, the same has to be reposed by the offspring too.

hitch writer said...

geee that tale is interesting... intriguing.... and you left us with a lot to wonder...

geee.... !!!

Lilly said...

Oh my the story about the photographer - oh gosh how horrible for the groom - oh my. that truly would have been horrible for him and his family. Great post!

Roshni said...

heheheh!! Good one! Probably the only way she could convey to everyone that she REALLY would MUCH rather marry her boyfriend!!

Btw, Ravana did not disguise himself as a deer; and the war was not about Draupadi.. more about reclaiming their kingdom.. I doubt the majority of the pandavas (except Bheem, maybe) cared a rat's ass about Draupadi!

Giri Vasan Guinness said...

Good one. I have a small confusion. Is it a comic end to a tragedy or a tragic end to a comedy or begining of a tragedy. Not sure.

Ravana used Mareechan to disguise as a deer and Ravana disguised himself as a beggar.

But here the bride and the "would not be" groom showed a bold face.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

Really funny twist, that one...now people will start taking their own wedding photos to avoid the risk, although another one may be the camera strap getting entangled with the garland. But, better that than the bride getting into romantic entanglements with other men, I guess.

nsiyer said...

Thanks Naperville Mom for reiterating my advice to Kavi.

Debrah, yes you are lucky to be in the US.Thanks.

So much Aditi for true love.Thanks.

nsiyer said...

Thanks Ugich Konitari. Despite refernce checks, destiny prevails.

Yaeh! Sridhar, children need to be responsible.

Thanks Hitch writer.

nsiyer said...

Hi Lily! Trust the photographer isn't married.

Hi Roshni, thanks. Not seen for a long time on this blog.

Giri, I stand corrected.

Thanks Sucharita if there has to be a twist - nothing ever changes.

priya said...

thoroughly enjoyed this post, Sir.

really interesting collection of snippets with equally interesting comments :)

the horse power part sounded the best :)