Just as November made its presence felt, I could feel the excitement building up as well as my anxiety to a greater extent. Engagement is not just a countdown to our big day but has a significant value to it. There is a reason why we are getting married right? It is a celebration of love. I can still vividly evoke the day I met Raj and how we both felt the love for each other. One thing in common for us will be the affection we are tied up to. Nothing is greater to us but LOVE is something that we would not give up so easily. It is not only about us, it is about the affection we have for our close-knit circle of family and friends. I and Raj are just a reflection of each other (maybe we can differ in some qualities) by which mutual understanding is the heart of our relationship. We are more like good old buddies whom enjoy the company of each other, can chat for hours of myriad topics ranging from grave issues like politics to more subtle topic as entertainment, sharing similar passion of life, and inspire each other throughout the journey of life.
Engagement happens simply because we felt that we both love each other so much and want to spend the rest of our lives together to catch the glimpse of how beautiful life can be. It is merely a preparation for us to be geared up before we walk down the aisle. The date for our engagement was fixed a couple of months ago with regards to our horoscope compatibility and auspicious date. It seemed like there is a long way to go at that point of time. But one thing I didn’t realize in the midst of a demanding life, I forgot time will never wait for us and it suddenly rang a bell in my head, “It’s almost here”! Can you imagine, there is only 15 more days to go for my single status to be revoked? Haha!! Oh no I don’t get the joy of happily quoting, “I am single and enjoying my life”! Of course it didn’t mean that after I am married, I am going to be tied up! Coz my sweet Raj is an outgoing person and love to live up our life like crazy. We had secretly made so many plans in this one year stint. One thing at a time!
Planning for a line-up of wedding events, can be stressful and pressure can drive us apart. But at the same time, it is up to us to take control of it by engaging ourselves with pampering session. I am not ashamed to admit even I and Raj had to endure the heated moments on various occasions but it is never about our love to each other. It is about the planning and how to move ahead despite our busy schedule. However, we both hold the bull by horns. Literally it means we took the charge of it by going on intimate dinner dates, do nice things for no reason, appreciate each other strengths, accept each other’s faults with love and compliment for the little things they do. It made a huge difference just like a flick of magic wand!
It is good to define what the significance of engagement is. The betrothal ceremony actually bounds us with a promise to marry. We do this by exchanging rings during the ceremony. As a Hindu, our engagement ceremony will be a first step into our marital union by marking the beginning of a new journey. On this day, both our families will merge together to witness the exchange of wedding bands (ring) to indicate that both the bride and groom are hooked. Besides that, the groom side will bring decorative trays laden with jewellery, clothing’s, gifts, sweets, fruits and many other gifts for the bride. Thereafter, a dinner party will follow up to rejoice the joy of betrothal ceremony.
Indian wedding ceremonies are definitely filled with elaborate customs, colors and opulent celebrations with overwhelming party thereafter. It is a time for family gathering to strengthen the bonds. Most of all, it is also an opening for me to show extra affection and appreciation to my parents, close family members and friends. Obliquely, this is a good bonding time.
It takes a lot of planning to do and execution coming into place. Various parties are involved and lots of hard work pumped into and ultimately we expect a promising outcome! Money flows out, ideas flows in! Suddenly, immense focus is placed on looking good for the big day, and so many brides and grooms use this time to suddenly be making cosmetic changes. But I am rather a laidback personality and always prefer to keep it simple and rely on my natural beauty (It is not self-conceit but I am a person who is blessed with fairly pleasant looks and skin tone which I think I don’t need to splurge a lot of cash there). Basically, I don’t make frequent trips to the beauty parlor unless I am nagged by mom. Mom is more concerned about my revamp looks more than I do. She pushes me to give a try on various facial treatment and spa’s. Such an inspiring person to keep a constant gentle reminder on me, that I am getting hitched soon. I never attempted to embark on crash diets but I did plan on mellow scale to trim down some unwanted fat deposits here and there. It didn’t kick start so aggressively but I did watch out on my eating habits. At least I’m in happy size and not oversized or obese. So this is still healthy. I think about making our self healthier should be as a lifelong commitment rather than a countdown to a date and a number on a scale.
Think about what you want and what’s important to you. With so many decisions to be made and other people’s opinions swirling around you, it’s easy to get lost. I found many wedding checklist from the Net, that I finally personalized to fit my requisite. Keeping tab on it from time to time does work to keep us on top of our task. I am planning to get a countdown calendars or tickers for my blog for the big day. Talking to trusted friends to feel inspired as driving force can be helpful. Looks like I had ditched my checklist and guest list somewhere in my piles of file holders for quite some time. It is time for me to bring it on and work my way through it.
I will be blogging about all the ramblings and rants of our big day from time to time!
~Raj & Nisha~
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