Baraat - A wonderful entertainment

Recently, I had been to one of my best friend's marriage. I come from South India and am not used to North Indian marriages. It was an exciting time to watch and participate in all the fun and frolic of the marriage. We had lots of fun during the engagement function and also the Sangeet.

And the D-Day arrived. In the evening, he was supposed to get on a horse (a female one). This horse was afraid of the crackers and as well as the band baaja arranged. Everytime, a cracker burst or the band fellows played loudly, the horse would skip a step. This skipping caused great distress to the groom.

In olden days everybody used to travel in horse or bullock cart, so they were used to traveling on horses. So, they were well versed with horse's antiques, also it was mainly their own horse. So both the horse and the groom were used to each other and the comfort level was high. Both knew each other and their moves well. But for the present day city dweller, who has only seen horses in movies, it is a cause of great anxiety. He is only used to bikes and cars. He has most probably never sat on a horse previously or shall either will in the near future after such a close encounter.

Even though there are the trainers who hold the horses' reins, it is very difficult for them to restrain the horses. The groom has to hold the saddle very tightly as though his life depended on it (it actually does, as if he falls off from the horse, life is going to be difficult). During the Baraat, suddenly for no reason, the horse jumped up slightly (and slightly only because the trainer was holding the reins tightly), the look on the groom's face said it all. He was so much tensed and after that he held the saddle more tightly.

All said and done, the Baraat reached its destination safely with no injuries to both the horse and the groom. It was a happy ending with the marriage proceeding smoothly.

"To all prospective grooms, Please take my advice: Start using cars as we do down south."