The Pre-Wedding Jing Bang

Two months back, I got to know that I will be getting married by November. In the true sense of the word, it is an arranged marriage, where I hadn’t even met my now fiancé, two days before taking the decision to get married to him. It was like, we met, we talked and the rest is a blur. I got to realize in a fast-track way that arranged marriages are about gut feel, and going with your instincts. It is almost like, being in a shoe store, and trying on that perfect but costly pair of shoes. It’s making your feet look like Cinderella’s and the color goes with most of your outfits. But still, you doubt. What if I can find a better less expensive pair elsewhere? But the doubt is momentary, because in your heart you just know that its perfect and you have to have it. Like they say, if the shoe fits…

While the feeling of getting married was yet to sink in, the actual process of planning the wedding started. The Big Fat Indian Wedding is a term so very aptly coined, any bride or groom to be will vehemently vouch for it. It is a grandiose project in itself and I would strongly urge all these business schools to adopt it as a live project: Organizing the Indian Wedding. There is management (delegating roles and duties and managing the timely and efficient execution of the tasks assigned), finance (the big question of budgets and allocation of funds), marketing (getting the right look and feel and communicating about the event in a right manner to the right people), operations management (arranging of optimum logistics for everyone), human resources (allocating the right people for the right job), Public Relations (maintaining relationships with people and communicating the appropriate message through the most effective channels), basically everything that a good business program would teach you in two years.

The Great Indian wedding is not just a learning experience; it is a journey of exploration and gathering information. My darling Mom now has gathered enough information about the shops in Meena Bazaar (Indian area in Dubai) that she will be able write a detailed description of the prices and variety of anything available in the locality. Not only that, she is an expert now at the names of all the brands available for Indian and Pakistani clothes and has knowledge of all the material available for stitching/matching/designing anything. She has established contacts with tailors, shopkeepers, suppliers of cloth, high-end designers and any category of stores which have anything to do with wedding material. Shop keepers know her by face, and sometimes by name, and greet her like a familiar guest to their store. She has invested so much time in these preparations that a list of to-do is constantly playing in her head, where she checks off what’s to be done and what has already been accomplished.  If she were to start a Wedding Planning business tomorrow, I’m sure she would be very successful.

The extravagance of it all is indeed quite enthralling and engaging. Each member of my family has gone on a new-clothes drive, where they have all refurbished their wardrobes to jazz it up and invested in some quality outfits for the day. That aside, everyone is very keen to give their opinions for everything from clothes to shoes, from food to accommodation, from timings, to schedules, everything! It is quite endearing to see the enthusiasm and the interest with which everyone has taken on roles for the preparations. At the same time, it’s a humbling and blessed feeling to know that so many people are willing to do so much to make the day special for me. That’s the thing with Indian weddings I guess, it’s not just an event for the bride and groom but for entire families, who come together with a lot of zest and enthusiasm to make the occasion a grand one. I shudder to think how it would have been if I had had to do all of this on my own. Given the short span of time in which this is all panning out, it would be a task next to impossible, and I would have needed at least a year more to plan this entire extravaganza out, and make it work. Ah, the joys of arranged Indian weddings!

So, while I count down the days to the Big Day, and the preparations proceed swiftly, while I cannot wait for it all to culminate into the much awaited ending (or shall I term it beginning?), I have to admit that this time, now, is rather thrilling and will surely be one to remember. I just had to express these thoughts, and a lot more is coming up, while the Pre-Wedding Jing Bang continues.