La Luna

Nikhil and Priya hailed from Karnataka.  Nikhil was a software developer in a company in Bangalore.  Priya was in the midst of switching careers.  She worked in a PR firm for a few years, but eventually realized that her passion was somewhere else. She then took up some courses and was studying to get into a new field.  She too lived in Bangalore.

Priya was a simple and fun loving girl.  She found happiness in the little things of life, like a hot cup of masala chai.  She was very talented and was still finding her place in the world.  She had hit her 30 a year back and her family and relatives were concerned about her wedding. A Mr. Right had to be found for her soon, or else all the Mr. Rights in the world would be taken, according to her relatives.  While all this was happening in Priya's life, a similar pattern of events was going on in Nikhil's life as well. He was a couple of years older than her, and his family wanted him to find his Ms. Right soon. Nikhil was the serious kind. He read a lot of books, participated in theater, and enjoyed instrumental music. He was a tabla player himself, and still played the tabla at local functions when he got the time. 

Nikhil's proposal came for Priya through an aunty and both the families were very excited even before anyone had really met.  After a few days, Nikhil came to Priya's home with his family and they spoke for a while. The families liked each other and so did Nikhil and Priya. In the days to come, they decided to meet up a few times and after about a couple of months, they realized they had found 'The One'.  The families were very happy that the marriage was fixed.

In India, marriages are a huge affair. People spend months planning and organizing the function. For many people, it's all about candid photography, clothes, food and all of this. Many people prefer having destination weddings. Priya and Nikhil's parents wanted to make the wedding a very big event. They wanted a lavish wedding. They thought of places for the wedding, but couldn't find any idea that hadn't been thought of  before. Beach weddings were common, hill stations were also increasingly common these days. They also thought of places like Rajasthan, but then that again was common. 

"So what now?", asked Aunty N (Nikhil's mom). To which Aunty P (Priya's mom) replied "I just thought of a wonderful idea. Why not have the wedding on the Moon?"  Aunty N was a little startled but seemed to love the idea just as much as Aunty P. "But can we really do that?", asked Aunty N. "Öh yes, absolutely! Lets start our planning", replied Aunty P.

A spacesuit designer was specially called  from Mysore. He had many years of experience in the field of designing ethnic and rich looking spacesuits, with lots of intricate work.  The color of Priya's spacesuit was peach with gold and lots of stone work and Nikhil would be in a blue spacesuit.  The theme of the wedding would obviously be "The Moon".  Invitation cards were printed and everyone was busy getting ready for the wedding. 

Priya couldn't believe that the families were actually planning a Moon wedding. "Are they serious?", she asked Nikhil. Nikhil gave a blank look. He was yet to believe it too. Priya and Nikhil got along really well. In-spite of all the differences in both of them, they never got bored with each other. And there was a mutual affection between them.  They connected really well. Both of them didn't like loud functions. Simplicity was their cup of tea. But as far as their wedding was concerned, no one paid heed to what they were looking for - A simple and warm function with a few important people. 

Aunty P and Aunty N had a tuff time finding a caterer. All the caterers said they only took assignments on earth. After a lot of search, Nikhil's dad found a Rajasthani caterer, who agreed to prepare a few Karnataka dishes as well. He asked for a space suit to be designed specially for him. He wanted his spacesuit to have the logo of a camel on it. Aunty N frowned but eventually agreed to the demand as he was the only caterer available for a moon assignment. 

Most of the arrangements were made, except that there was no pandit available who would travel to the moon. An uncle offered to disguise as a pandit, but this idea was ruled out by the others. What they needed was an actual pandit. 

In the midst of all this, Priya and Nikhil felt very stressed out. He had a job that took most of his time, and she was busy figuring out her new career field and courses. The moon wedding to top it all up freaked both of them out. 

A wedding is nothing but a function that celebrates the union of two people. Why complicate it so much? Why think of wedding themes that take up so much energy when all that matters is that the two people to be married are happy with each other?  All these thoughts went through the minds of Priya and Nikhil. They discussed this every day with each other. They didn't find any meaning in such complicated functions. They felt that the personal touch of the function seemed to have got lost.  

A lot of planning continued, and there was no end to the number of event managers the families had met. A lot of it seemed so superficial and unnecessary to Priya and Nikhil. 

"I really want to get away from all this. So much stress for a wedding, that too our wedding, that too on the moon!!!?? ", said Priya. Nikhil was equally tired of all the unnecessary drama and preparation. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?", asked Nikhil. "How will I know what are you thinking, Nikhil?" , asked Priya, astonished. "Let's just have a register marriage. It is simple, and easy. We will speak to our families and if they don't agree, we'll elope ", said Nikhil after taking a sip of chai. " Eloping in an arranged marriage does sound funny, but that would actually mean we can get married on earth, and not involve the moon wedding", said Priya. 

Though they had made all plans to elope, they didn't really have to.   The moon wedding had to be cancelled as no pandit agreed to travel to the moon.  Nikhil and Priya had a register marriage some time later! The families were very disappointed, but most of the important people attended the function. And that is what mattered.  The Rajasthani caterer was asked to handle the reception and he wore his camel spacesuit to it. 

What matters is how well Nikhil and Priya got along, and not how big their wedding function was. We can find happiness in the simplest of things.

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