Christian Wedding
Hey blog dude! Surprised by my frequent visit again?? Now, that's because of another experience which got added on last friday (December 5, 2008) - of attending Christian marriage for the first time.
In past 6-7 years since 2001, I attended only one wedding ceremony that happened to be of my elder sister. And in the last month - I have attended two weddings - both unique (Marathi wedding and this one), and also, couldn't pay due respect to other four invitations. Are more people marrying these days or people around me have reached marriageable age? God knows.
This is about the wedding ceremony of a colleague of mine, Mr. Aashish Phansopkar. I was never aware of he being a Christian - 1) because I never focus on which religion/ caste one belongs to.. (whatever is important is pretty clear, anyways) 2) Phansopkar (AR in the end) denotes marathi origin..... I am happy now that I know I was among the majority - not many knew this fact. Attending this was kind of mandatory for me because of so many reasons:
a) The person had invited personally.
b) The ceremony was at Bangalore only.
c) The marriage day was friday, and time was evening.
Almost entire office reached the venue. The ceremony was already on when we reached there. A person accompanied us to seats. At that time, it seemed to me like a prayer hall in church. I was completely new to this wedding atmosphere. Stage was set with flowers, some 5/6 people sitting on top of stage - I thought they were elder relatives of both the families. Mr. Aashish - the groom - was nowhere to be seen, although I could see the bride in a beautiful white attire that I had only seen in some english movies. A group were singing songs and almost everyone in the hall, with one or both hands upwards, were singing and dancing along with them. A projector with the lyrics of songs was also present as a hearing aid to people who couldn't follow the music. Focusing on lyrics made it clear that everyone was worshiping Lord. This was something different than what I had witnessed earlier. The music was on and on for a long time and all the songs were in praise of God (in this case Jesus Christ). The music was good - and I enjoyed the time. Finally, I could see the groom also - the view was blocked earlier by standing and dancing people.
Then came a person in a black suit, with a mike in hand, after musicians stopped playing and introduced people-on-stage to the audience. It became clear only at this point in time that they didn't belong to any of the two families which were joining - they were some senior people from Church. The same person asked one of them to say a few words. We were showered with verses from Bible related to how did God create earth, what was the purpose of creation, what are basic responsibilies, what should we be like, why eagle is the best bird and what not? Although whatever he was saying made sense, but it'd have probably been better in a philosophy class. Language also has different meanings for various individuals - He was asked to say a few words, but what does few mean? The person in black coat should have clarified this earlier. It was too late now. I was more worried by the fact that there were 5 more people on stage with him.
As soon as second person was invited and he also started with verses in Hebrew/Latin and all the languages unknown to me - I was confident that I'll take a degree on the subject today. But he disappointed - he left the topic much earlier than my expectations and started formal ceremony.
"Mr. Aashish, Come to the stage," he announced. Groom followed the instructions.
"Now, I request Mr X (bride's father) to accompany the bride on stage and hand her over to Mr. Aashish." and the instructions were obeyed.
Then there were some basic vows, from each of the bride's and groom's side along with the ring ceremony.
"Now, with the grace of Jesus, and in presence of so many of witnesses, I declare you the husband and wife." I could hear sound of claps everywhere.
"Now, Mr. Aashish will kiss the bride - photographers be ready, these incidents don't come often." Again, his instructions were followed.
He must be a big man - everyone was obeying him. After officially getting declared husband and wife, the couple came down the stage and went somewhere outside. (I am yet to find out what was the ritual behind this - guess they went to church for prayers.) Till the time they came back, guests had started their dinner. And the food was pretty good.
With everyone satiated fully, now was the time for some music again. Guests were again in the hall, and when we reached there, the couple was on stage and groom was singing a song for the bride. Mr. Ashish is a good singer- I must say. The bride also reciprocated the gesture with a song from her side. The couple shared the first sweet - a cake - and then a toast was raised in their honor. Wine and cake were distributed among guests.
Then came the fun part - Younger sister of the bride, and the best friend of groom shared some funny stories about the couple. (they were funny - at least in parts.) And then, they also sang a song for the couple. The other important announcement was that these two were also going to marry after 10 days. Good going guys!!
Post-this was a formal thanks-giving ceremony by the groom. And then, the couple took their seats on stage with guests allowed to go on-stage to wish them a very happy married life ahead. We went on-stage as a group representing Capital One - blessed the couple with everyone's wishes. I am becoming more and more experienced day by day.
Blog! the next big marriage I am planning to attend is in February - and it'll be a Gujju wedding. Get ready for another entry.
In past 6-7 years since 2001, I attended only one wedding ceremony that happened to be of my elder sister. And in the last month - I have attended two weddings - both unique (Marathi wedding and this one), and also, couldn't pay due respect to other four invitations. Are more people marrying these days or people around me have reached marriageable age? God knows.
This is about the wedding ceremony of a colleague of mine, Mr. Aashish Phansopkar. I was never aware of he being a Christian - 1) because I never focus on which religion/ caste one belongs to.. (whatever is important is pretty clear, anyways) 2) Phansopkar (AR in the end) denotes marathi origin..... I am happy now that I know I was among the majority - not many knew this fact. Attending this was kind of mandatory for me because of so many reasons:
a) The person had invited personally.
b) The ceremony was at Bangalore only.
c) The marriage day was friday, and time was evening.
Almost entire office reached the venue. The ceremony was already on when we reached there. A person accompanied us to seats. At that time, it seemed to me like a prayer hall in church. I was completely new to this wedding atmosphere. Stage was set with flowers, some 5/6 people sitting on top of stage - I thought they were elder relatives of both the families. Mr. Aashish - the groom - was nowhere to be seen, although I could see the bride in a beautiful white attire that I had only seen in some english movies. A group were singing songs and almost everyone in the hall, with one or both hands upwards, were singing and dancing along with them. A projector with the lyrics of songs was also present as a hearing aid to people who couldn't follow the music. Focusing on lyrics made it clear that everyone was worshiping Lord. This was something different than what I had witnessed earlier. The music was on and on for a long time and all the songs were in praise of God (in this case Jesus Christ). The music was good - and I enjoyed the time. Finally, I could see the groom also - the view was blocked earlier by standing and dancing people.
Then came a person in a black suit, with a mike in hand, after musicians stopped playing and introduced people-on-stage to the audience. It became clear only at this point in time that they didn't belong to any of the two families which were joining - they were some senior people from Church. The same person asked one of them to say a few words. We were showered with verses from Bible related to how did God create earth, what was the purpose of creation, what are basic responsibilies, what should we be like, why eagle is the best bird and what not? Although whatever he was saying made sense, but it'd have probably been better in a philosophy class. Language also has different meanings for various individuals - He was asked to say a few words, but what does few mean? The person in black coat should have clarified this earlier. It was too late now. I was more worried by the fact that there were 5 more people on stage with him.
As soon as second person was invited and he also started with verses in Hebrew/Latin and all the languages unknown to me - I was confident that I'll take a degree on the subject today. But he disappointed - he left the topic much earlier than my expectations and started formal ceremony.
"Mr. Aashish, Come to the stage," he announced. Groom followed the instructions.
"Now, I request Mr X (bride's father) to accompany the bride on stage and hand her over to Mr. Aashish." and the instructions were obeyed.
Then there were some basic vows, from each of the bride's and groom's side along with the ring ceremony.
"Now, with the grace of Jesus, and in presence of so many of witnesses, I declare you the husband and wife." I could hear sound of claps everywhere.
"Now, Mr. Aashish will kiss the bride - photographers be ready, these incidents don't come often." Again, his instructions were followed.
He must be a big man - everyone was obeying him. After officially getting declared husband and wife, the couple came down the stage and went somewhere outside. (I am yet to find out what was the ritual behind this - guess they went to church for prayers.) Till the time they came back, guests had started their dinner. And the food was pretty good.
With everyone satiated fully, now was the time for some music again. Guests were again in the hall, and when we reached there, the couple was on stage and groom was singing a song for the bride. Mr. Ashish is a good singer- I must say. The bride also reciprocated the gesture with a song from her side. The couple shared the first sweet - a cake - and then a toast was raised in their honor. Wine and cake were distributed among guests.
Then came the fun part - Younger sister of the bride, and the best friend of groom shared some funny stories about the couple. (they were funny - at least in parts.) And then, they also sang a song for the couple. The other important announcement was that these two were also going to marry after 10 days. Good going guys!!
Post-this was a formal thanks-giving ceremony by the groom. And then, the couple took their seats on stage with guests allowed to go on-stage to wish them a very happy married life ahead. We went on-stage as a group representing Capital One - blessed the couple with everyone's wishes. I am becoming more and more experienced day by day.
Blog! the next big marriage I am planning to attend is in February - and it'll be a Gujju wedding. Get ready for another entry.
posted by Udham Singh at
9:08 PM
2 Comments:
Good one. I have heard tids a bits of details around a christian wedding but this was an interesting commentary of the whole show! Keep up the good work.
Haan bhai pandit ji shadiyan karwa rahe ho aaj kal...badiya hai...lage raho...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home