Prarthana & Neelabh | Cross Cultural Tamil Wedding in Bangalore
Love is beautiful crochet of each other’s nuances. Beautiful bright colours, with complementing pastels spread across the sky, like a rainbow falling for the earth. In this beautiful fusion of colours and cultures, we find the intimacy that only luck and prayers can yield between Prarthana and Neelabh. It is here, where chai truly meets filter coffee.
Prarthana happily lets the Haldi envelop her in the home where she grew up. The younger girls of the family look with curiosity and surprise at the rituals. The busy kitchens and the laughter of the elder women kept my frames busy. The groom engages in conversations, probably discussing what’s on the menu, just a couple of frames before we finally bear witness to the sight of the bride and the groom together.
Mehendi was gracefully embraced by all the women of the house, all ages apart. Men wear mehndi here too, and quite proudly indeed. But the hidden words on the bride’s hand’s Mehendi are the true surprises. The dancing bride and groom, and the rest of the happy family, made the evenings count much more than the rituals could.
As you walk with us, the surprise on the faces of the children makes you want to catch your breath and let out a small chuckle. The parents dancing to the old songs, and emoting the beauty of the eyes, take us back in time; and then the laughter of both the teams and the groom brings us back into the moment.
A few frames later, we wonder, if fathers ever really get over the ‘kanyadaan’? Or do they hide away their breaking hearts behind their strong smiles? In this marriage, two different and beautiful souls come together to build an eternity of love and warmth. Our south Indian family watches with awe the different ‘rasam’ of the North, as the family smudges turmeric on the smiling groom’s face! But, like in every other marriage, this North meets South wedding too has fluttering conversations, millions of pictures clicked, and a hundred more moments! The drip of the paan as it’s pushed into the groom’s mouth, a zillion different query phone covers, and come dance with the Chamundi Band!
Each one jams to their own kind of music and engrossed everyone with their moves, but my doesn’t our ready-to-be-married-couple win all the hearts!? Decking up our groom in a complete South Indian attire, ready for Prarthana, our beautiful bride.
I manage to freeze the thoughts in her eyes in the middle of all this pompous happiness, a moment of calm, a moment of pause. A moment to reflect. Almost like the moment where the bride’s parents shed a tear or two.
Their holy blessings and warm smiles spread across the room on Mehendi night, this Tam-Brahm wedding between the North and the South of India is a sight to behold.
In these four days of overwhelming emotions, crossovers between laughter and tears, and a million more rich traditions, we found a match made in heaven.
In the minuscule moments between these traditions, we stole a few minutes from the head-over-heels-in-love couple. Some mayhem and some romance, here we are with the memories we held on to, much after the wedding was over.
Instagram: @nishallama_weddings
