adheems wedding version 2

this one at the church in the st francis xavier school in parle west. i remember going there with amit two years back. churches are in a sense oppressive spaces. dominating from the outside and all austere on the inside. or almost so. the inside of this one had a white marble floor with a red carpet like a river of blood running through the center. the act of the service is an act of submission to a higher power, the synchronized call and responses predetermined and choreographed to perfection (and completely incomprehensible to the uninitiated) replicate every minute a certain commonality that represses individual eccentricity.. or so at least it seemed to me. the symbolism of purity and sacrifice that is rampant in the texts and even in the architecture of the building is powerful and a little scary. a crucifix hung from the ceiling above the heads of adheem and sharon as the priest extolled the virtues of marriage for a minute before decimating the myth of santa claus as part of the service. adheem looked handsome and sharon lovely in her white flowing gown. sunita maushi, apurva and chaitra had worn these dresses for the occasion, while sharons rather cool very well pierced family had turned out dapper in their suits. akshay, rishabh, dad, dharmu mama all work jackets and blazers.

adheem and me outside the church

after the church wedding we dropped into college for a few minutes to see the students clambering to finish pinning up the exhibition and then went to the venue for the reception. organized by the christian half of the union it was a real blast. the mc made sexist jokes about the marriage, spoke in the fake accent that is the hallmark of hosts pre-american television. a wedding cake was a complicated affair with two green lawns connected by a elaborate bridge of icing upon which best men and bridesmaids formed a frame for a statue of a happily married couple. a fountain sputtered below them. akshay, rishabh and me had our own versions of the meaning of this concoction. the rest of the evening was like a collection of christian wedding formulas- each of which was more enjoyable than the other. the columbia pictures music announcing the entry of the bride and the groom, the bread and red wine, the confetti, the two red hearts that hung over the dancefloor, the chicken dance, the ‘put your right hand in’ thing, the speeches by the best man and the bridesmaid, and the wild wild dancing .. which we were all a part of. all weddings should be like this.

adheem waits

sharon walks down the aisle

adheem and sharons parents

sunita maushi

sharons dad

the wedding cake

the speeches by the best man and the bridesmaid

the dancefloor

the first couple

lifted by friends

posing in front of the cake