Posted on: Sep 15, '08
The Engagement Saga - Part-I
Today the house is crawling with people. Anywhere u care to look, you will see people sleeping on the carpets.
Some are curled up in foetal positions, some with arms and legs spread out, and others in all kinds of sleeping poses. Fat, thin, bald, hairy, tall, short; people in all shapes, sizes and hues. Some snoring, some grunting, some even f—ting in their sleep! People, people everywhere and not an empty spot to be seen..!!
It’s fun to sit here and watch them, although it wasn’t so funny when I tripped over someone and nearly fell, as I was going into my own kitchen to make tea at dawn.
My heart beams with joy as I look upon this humanity on my floor, because these are not some refugees that I took in after the floods, but my own kith and kin. My second and third cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and all the jing-bang from Pune, who are here for my son Shantanu’s engagement to Aakanksha.
Initially when they said that they were all coming to Delhi, I protested loudly.
“Oh no” I said, “I don’t have enough bedrooms for all of you. I will have to book an entire hotel to accommodate you all.”
“We don’t care”, they said. “We are coming, and we can all sleep on the floor and eat khichadi for three days! We will even speak softly, won’t fight, and promise to clean up after ourselves, but you can’t stop us from attending Shantanu’s engagement.”
SIGH..!! Did I have a choice? I think not. But anyway now that they are here, I am happy..!!
Praise the lord that the much awaited day is here. Today is the engagement. And the RING is ready..!! Yay..!! FINALLY..!!
I must tell u about the RING…. This topic of the engagement ring had been bothering me for some time. When Aakanksha came over that day, I said to her,” Bebu, we must look at some nice engagement rings and buy one for you.”
“Maa” she said, “I want a one carat princess cut solitaire with smaller stones on the sides”
My eyes glazed over, my brain was doing the Math quickly as my mouth was saying a guarded ‘Yes’.
She hugged me so tightly that I decided, I would fight my hubby if required, to obtain funds for such a gem.
Then began the treasure hunt for that perfect piece; one jeweler quoted xxx another yyy, another xxx for just the solitaire.. and I could read the expression on my hubby’s face going from hope to despair ….
Please check in tomorrow and every day next week for the rest of it folks..!!
PART TWO CONTINUES
Finally we found a ring hold (base) that we all liked at a Delhi jeweler’s and decided that it would be cheaper to buy the solitaire from Surat….
So eventually the solitaire reached us, but the prongs on the ring hold were meant for a round solitaire and the princess cut wouldn’t fit.!!
The jeweler in Delhi offered to remove the original prongs, put in 4 new ones and fit in the princess.. all at a nicely hefty cost of course.
My son, Shantanu, sat in a hot dingy room all day while two boys of around 14 yrs of age used primitive equipment to hack off the prongs and weld in new ones.
Needless to say the ring was all crooked and uneven and the solitaire looked DRUNK as it was fitted in ‘tedha’
Aakanksha wailed when she saw it. This was four days before the engagement and we were all panicking….
“Just exchange silver rings” said hubby
“Borrow a ring from the jeweler and wear that for the ceremony.. then get ur ring made aaraam se” that was my most sensible suggestion.
But of course Aakanksha wailed and wailed and Shantanu ran helter skelter looking for a jeweler who could make an identical ring in 2 days…..
OH BOY THE TENSION IN THE HOUSE WAS PALPABLE..!!
Finally Shantanu found a jeweler at the Gold Souk who made an identical copper sample ring, dear Aakanksha was happy and we asked him to make the same thing in gold.
24 hours before the engagement, the most perfect ring was in our hands and we all heaved a collective sigh of relief.
BELIEVE ME LIFE AS A MOTHER- IN- LAW -IN -WAITING IS NOT EASY..!!
And so arrived the evening of the engagement.
There was a mad rush to get to the two bathrooms in the house to freshen up….there were 5 women in various states of undress in front of my dressing table trying to get their Make-up on.
I had to clear a patch of space on my bed so that I could stand on it and do my hair.
My hubby had to take his suit into the storeroom so that he had enough privacy to put it on.
Shantanu of course had commandeered a whole room to himself and was getting dressed with the aid of his pals..
The Tuxedo and matching tie and kerchief and god alone knows what else makes a young man’s toilette.
Oh at this point I should be telling you about the SPA treatment, facial, manicure and pedicure that Aakanksha had taken him for.. but I will save that for a later date..!!
Anyway, we were all ready just in the nick of time and piled into the cars to reach the venue.
We were received with huge fanfare and I was dying to see my Aakanksha in all her finery.
“ Bebu Kahaan hai?” I asked her mom.
“Abhi tak beautician ke yahaan se aayi nahi”
And of course Madamji reached the venue a good 45 minutes late..!!
More later folks..hope this has whetted your appetite..!!
Tags: son engagement humour
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