It was a typical arranged marriage. But the shock of Priyanka’s life had come when she realized that she was from the same college as Vishal. They had studied for three years in the same college in the same stream but had never even faintly seen each other. Her parents and relatives suspected this to be a clandestine love affair but in the hearts of hearts of I knew my friend to be completely innocent. The duo was engaged in a quite ceremony amidst a group of close knitted friends and family.
There was apparent much brainstorming going on over the wedding destination. Priyanka and Vishal wanted a destination wedding as a wedding in Mumbai did not appeal to either of them. I was a privy to all that was going on and I still remember Priyanka jumping with joy when Lonavala was chosen as the destination for wedding. Soon both were engulfed in the flurry of activities as the wedding was just three months away and a lot was left to be done.
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Keeping in tune with the Punjabi traditions a multi-coloured lehenga with heavy zardozi work was decided for Priyanka and Vishal chose a typical Punjabi Sherwani in hues of beige and gold with kalamkari work for himself. The rest of the shopping frenzy was taken over by their respective mothers.
Vishal had hit upon a million dollar idea or so he said. He did not even consult Priyanka before summoning a meeting of his parents and in-laws and putting the idea before them. He had thought it to be super cool if the people on both sides stayed together in the Resort booked at Lonavala. There were mixed reactions on both the sides and after one week of weighing pros against cons, it was decided that the wish of the groom will be fulfilled. But the thing was to be kept a secret and disclosed only a week before the wedding. Priyanka and Vishal obviously looked forward to meeting stealthily and also in broad daylight.
Punjabis are a lively lot and as Vishal had expected the whole concept turned out to be a huge success. The ceremonies on both the sides were carried out in unison and Haldi soon turned into a celebration of Holi. In the three days the people gelled so well that on the day of wedding there was no telling one side apart from the other. Priyanka was on cloud nine and Vishal stood there in true splendour of a Punjabi groom, a decorated sword tucked in the sheath around the waist.
The food was delectable, especially the Punjabi delicacies. The nuptial progressed smoothly and soon it was time to bid farewell to my best friend. But for the first time I had witnessed a wedding that was in totality a communion of two families and they both wished the newlyweds eternal joy and happiness.
