Thousand
Moon: Smt. Sudha Limaye
Contributed
by: Dr. Raghunath Boradkar
My husband
and I had a registered wedding sixty one years ago. A wedding in a non-conventional
format was a shock in itself for the middle class community that we came from. Everybody
was curious and excited to know how such weddings were performed. We had given
the required one month notice and all the forms were filled and ready. The
Registrar was to come to my house for the formalities.
He arrived
on time and after the initial pleasantries examined the papers and to our
disbelief announced that we could not proceed with the wedding. We were all in
a state of shock. Upon asking him the reason he said, “The bride is only
seventeen and legally a minor”. When my uncle asked him if there was a solution
to the problem or whether we had to wait a year, he said that if we could procure a letter from my parents
giving their consent then we could go ahead. Hence my mother wrote a letter and
we proceeded with the wedding. Everyone was relieved, particularly my husband!
We had
arranged an ice cream party in the evening at the Sahitya Parishad hall. The
only vehicles we could take to go there were the Bus or the Tonga (horse cart).
My husband and I decided to walk there. The hall had chairs but there were none
on the dais. It being a Sunday the hall office was closed. The hall caretaker
did not allow us to move any of the chairs on the floor to the dais. Finally I
remembered that we knew a family that lived close by. So I walked to their house
and upon explaining the whole situation to them was able to borrow two chairs.
I carried one one chair myself. The chairs were then kept on the
dais and the reception party progressed.
These days
when I attend marriages with decorated pendols and throne like seats for the
bride and the groom I invariable remember my own wedding and I humbly salute
the changing times!
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