sangeeth

The mehendi night tonight at the bride's house, which was a scene straight out of a Kollywood women. The house was full of brightly coloured, sari clad women. The bride sat, blouse-less but sari-ed on a throne-like sofa as two women attended to her hands and feet. The other women and friends had other assistants twirling, winding, creating mythic indian patterns in green henna on hands and feet and shoulders and arms. Then we all sat around, suspended, unable to move for 2 hours while it dried and people flowed in and out of the house. Almost everyone I met, I was sort of related to: "I saw you last when you were this high!/five years old"? Had to download my life history for everyone's gratification which wasn't as bad as I thought. Food flowed as well (no alcohol). Then the sangeeth happened, and the women got together with instruments and hours of carnatic music, holy, beautiful and above-all, well-sung wafted through the house. And it was nice, and tense and family-full. My parents made a surprise entrance, father dressed improbably in a twentysomething italian shirt, and mother in a bright sari and I thought to myself, my parents looked younger than me. (midlife crisis, enter party animals). Anyway the chatter flowed and the jaffna slang flowed and it was nice to hear everyone connecting the dots (aarrr you're Aruni mami's teacher's daughter's son-in-law from Kopai and you lived opposite Amma's house in the 60s. I remember. How is She?)