Social tribulations

This Sunday, we were invited for a wedding reception. Truth be told, I have never found it very exciting to attend wedding receptions, especially in Chennai. Now, I am definitely no social butterfly, but I am also not one of those lone-wolves who become hostile at the sight of company. Yet, whenever I had to attend a wedding or a reception, I did so with great inhibition and difficulty.

The first problem at hand was selecting the attire. One of the things I dreaded most was draping the sari. Somehow I never mastered the art of wearing a saree neatly and carrying it gracefully. Hats off to Sonia Gandhi, but this was certainly not my cuppa tea. With this handicap, I was not left with much options in attire. I would then have to find out a salwar suit that was sufficiently good for the occasion AND not jaded-looking AND of a size that I have not overgrown AND which matched with my standard sandals. Finding out something that satisfied all the above was a truly Herculean task.

The next would be to motivate my better(?)-half to budge. My husband believes that weekends are meant to be spent totally at home, and specifically on the couch, with the TV remote in one hand and laptop on his lap (superfluous I know). Any statement from me that calls for a shift in this sofa-spud pose is met with different stages of reactions - his first reaction is I-pretend-to-be-deaf, the next is a frown with a raised eyebrow but still no verbal response or physical shift of position. Hubby dear being an Industrial Engineer by qualification, really believes in economy of movements, you see!. Then finally, when my push comes to the shove and he can no longer ignore it, he lets a loud yawn or shrug and asks me "Now What do you want me to do" with a sacrificial-lamb-being-dragged-to-altar look on his face.

Finally, when we both are ready and dressed, we would start this mad-hunt for the wedding invite, which, by then, would have been buried under the huge pile of mail and bills stacked in our draw. In the event of us finding it, we would then rush to a map to find out the location of some S.K Mahal or A.M.R Kalyana Mandapam in some usually-unexplored part of Chennai. Most of the times, we would have huge arguments in the car as to which road we should take. Hubby's logic is that since he drives, I am supposed to be the navigator and hence, should not only know the way perfectly, but also provide advance instructions to him on when and where to turn. HAA HAA..

And so, after much trials and tribulations, we would arrive at this overcrowded wedding reception, which would be alive with "light music" playing in the background. For the uninitiated among you, this so-called light music is louder and noisier than most of the heavy metal and rock music that you have come across. To say it is deafening would be an under-statement. The one and only good thing about this music is that it enables the guests to shower undivided focus on peoples' dresses and jewellery. Since there is no possibility of conversation, all you do is watch around and see who is wearing what. The looks and glances one sees here is a topic for a separate blog in itself. Hmmphh..

And finally the icing on the cake would be this huge queue to go up the podium to wish the couple and another round of musical chair to secure a place for dinner. Do people really do this so their marriages become a "memorable" occasion and are etched in the guests' minds? Then I think they are right.

Now you know why I am mildly standoffish towards receptions. But what I wanted to say here was this : The one I attended this weekend was a refreshing change. First of all, blessing of blessings, the reception was held at a place closer home. When we got there after an uneventful (read peaceful) journey, we were delighted to find the hall was not overcrowded. For a change, there were no people breathing down our necks for the chairs. And instead of the dreaded "light" music, we had soft instrumental music (carnatic- Veena). To put it mildly, I found this to be uplifting to my spirit. For once, the music did not make my adrenaline levels go high and set my heart racing in frustration. Instead it was relaxing. And oh- there was no queue for dinner, since the number of invitees just equalled the hall's capacity. I could not have asked for more. I came back, having enjoyed my time there and wishing that I'd get invited for only such receptions in future.