A wedding

Seeing people getting married makes me feel good and it also keeps my hope alive that someday I will also be one of them. But sometimes, it does not seem to be as easy as it sounds. A friend of mine has landed himself in trouble by marrying his beloved.
Reason- the boy is a Muslim and the girl is a Hindu Brahmin. Both of them are on the run at present with the girl's family in hot pursuit. I pray the situation calms down soon.

They got married at an Arya Samaj mandir and the boy converted to Hinduism, just for the legalities. I was present at the wedding myself as a witness. How weddings are done at the mandir? Don't ask. A movie's trailer runs longer than a wedding at Arya Samaj mandir. In twenty minutes I witnessed three weddings excluding my friend's. The Pandit recited mantras while other gentlemen were busy doing the paper work. In five minutes it was done. They have a ready made turban and a Chunni both attached to each other just to ensure that they finish it fast without wasting time. The reason is most of the couples who go there are those who run away from home and get married secretly. The rest are those families who cannot afford the cost of a wedding and the mandir satisfies the both parties. The fire burns from morning till evening. When it comes to applying sindur, the pandit asks the bride- do you have to go home or to office? It is adjusted accordingly then. If the bride has to rush somewhere,for example- office, after the wedding, the sindur is applied only for the namesake which can easily be wiped out leaving no traces. If the pandit takes a little longer to finish, others start shouting-'Are panditji jaldi karo nahin to baithi party laut jayegi'. You can imagine how funny it was.

But there is something I can never forget. Someone is ready to risk their life and future for their beloved. It is not an ordinary thing. It exhibits a strong commitment and clarity of mind, if not in the long run, at present at least. Everyone is not lucky to find someone who is ready to die for them. It reminds me of the opening dialog of the movie Casino. Robert De Niro says' When you love someone, you got to trust them. There is no other way. You got to give them the key to everything that is yours. Otherwise what's the point?'