Northern hues at Tamil weddings
North Indian rituals such as sangeet are becoming a common feature of Tamil ceremonies, discovers Sunday Times Lakshmy Ramanathan | TNN Chennai: Minutes before guests trickled in for his wedding reception in May, Subramanian G aka Subs recalls being confronted by a posse of six women. They had hidden his shoes and he was forced to part with Rs 5,000 even as 'Joote de do paise le lo' from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun played in the background. A scene straight out of the Sooraj Barjatya school of film-making? It's real life actually. This is just one of the many north Indian rituals that featured at Subs' wedding to Ramya, in a sign of Bollywood's influence on the traditionally lowkey Tamil. Ramya, who is now in the US with her new husband, recalls being part of the joota churana ritual at another family wedding. "My cousins have been doing this at other weddings in the family. I used to be a part of this motley crew before I got married," she says. It is a sign of changing times. More so than stag parties and outlandish, themed weddings, which have been common ever since the IT boom brought wealth to sections of the Tamil community. Almost everyone links the trend to the popularity of Bollywood films. Professor P Radhakrishnan, of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, says increased exposure to Bollywood films is definitely a factor. But the main reason, says Ramya, is that south Indians are increasingly marrying northerners. When Mridula Swamy married in 2005, the ceremonies were modified to make them more fun. At the mehndi and sangeet ceremony, her cousins decided to weave the couple's love story into a medley of Hindi and Tamil film songs. They did this because Mridula's fiancée was a different caste. "I remember them dancing to the song 'Upkaruvaadu ooru vacha sore/ Uttiveedu ni podum yennaku (Salted fish and soaked rice/ All I need is you to feed me'. The song was so appropriate as my husband is a non-vegetarian and I am not!" remembers Mridula. The actual wedding ceremony did away with traditional south Indian ritual such as the nalangu, which has bride and groom rolling coconuts and breaking pappad over each other's heads to symbolise the games played when child marriages were the norm. "Certain rituals lose their significance as they are not in sync with reality. The kashi yatra ritual makes sense only at an arranged marriage where the father of the bride stops the groom from leaving for Kashi (Varanasi) as it is symbolic of 'seeking an alliance'," she says. For many Tamil families, cross-over weddings have become an opportunity to pack in as much fun as possible. Venkatesh Subramani and his wife Deepa thought it would be refreshing to have a baraat with a horse-drawn chariot instead of a jaanavasam (the baraat's south Indian equivalent). Interestingly, this cultural import is not without a hint of breaking the rules. Venkatesh, for instance, was joined by his bride at the baraat; Subs not only had his shoes stolen but his dhoti too! The couples interviewed were not completely aware of the significance of the rituals they incorporated, but didn't mind having them. "It's not so much the ritual as the fact that it's an occasion to bond," says Lata. The pursuit of fun has, however, meant weddings becoming more expensive. At her niece's wedding, Lata hired a troupe of dancers to perform a selection of songs chosen by the bride. A five to six-member troupe can charge anything between Rs 30,000 and 40,000. Freelance disc jockeys such as DJ Ash charge upwards of Rs 15,000 to play for 50 to 100 people. It can cost nearly Rs 3,000 to hire a horse in Chennai and more than Rs 6,000 for a horse-drawn chariot. This is why Radhakrishnan believes such cross-over weddings are securely linked to a culture of consumerism. "The number of rituals that are included is linked to one's buying power," he says, adding that the trend is a big-city phenomenon. Wedding planners Lakshmi and Saraswathi of Event art disagree. They say the trend exists even in tier two cities such as Karur, Tirupur, Pondicherry and Erode. The sister-duo organised performances at six such weddings across Tamil Nadu this year. "The only difference is that the influence of Bollywood doesn't extend to smaller cities," says Lakshmi. Saraswathi adds that "the trend has caught on because every one wants to have fun and carry with them memories to last a lifetime. Such weddings ensure just that". SOUTH MEETS NORTH: Venkatesh Subramani opted for a baraat with chariot drawn horses at his wedding (above); a traditional wedding (right) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/thatha_patty?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
