We are living in the 21st century and the inculcation of modern values and modern customs, is at its peak. Not that we do not respect the old traditions and rituals, but we abstain from following those that harm our consciousness. The youth of today, prefers to reject the mindset that exploits other fellow beings.
Wedding is one such occasion which invites assimilation of all the traditions and customs. It is, dare I say, a holy event where all the like minded people meet and eventually invent or discover something new- either a new ritual or a new tradition. And this cycle goes on. With every wedding a new tradition is born and is passed on, as heritage, to the next one to be wed, sooner or later. But does this mean that this is driving away the youth from opting for traditional- ritualistic wedding? Probably, yes. But the majority of youths, especially the females, prefer a traditional wedding. There are many reasons for this:
- Not everything requires time saving. It is true that traditional weddings will cost you time and even energy, but it is worth all the effort. After all, you get to enjoy the functions, the light ambience, the celebrative and festive moods, and the company of lots and lots (literally lots) of people.
- For girls, they get to do a lot of shopping (and I seriously mean a lot and lot). For years, they have a bee in the bonnet for shopping and their hidden desires are fulfilled when they get to buy new clothes, new shoes, accessories and misc items.
- For boys, probably the time spent in all the functions, is not of any special importance for they are denied meeting their would be, they are made to shop- to do a thing in which they are least interested and they are made to choose from embarrassment of riches.
- But be it boys or girls, everybody enjoys the teasing, the fun time, spent with distant relatives, the memories that are made and captured and the excitement that prevails.
But if we flip the coin and look on the other side, there are more reasons to dislike the traditional wedding too. - It requires too much time and considering the present scenario, where everyone is trying to cope in the rat race of life, how can anyone manage to give so much time to their wedding? Even if they do (say 5 days for every function) then what about the honeymoon, eh?
- The ‘over friendly relatives’, who appear to be the most caring and loving people on the planet, actually turn out to be all sizzle and no steak. They behave as armchair critics and increase the burden on the parents of the bride/groom
- The numerous functions, small or big ones, cost you a fortune. For every little ritual, there is a long list of things that need to be purchased (well in advance) and kept ready (sinking the budget already)
- Not to forget, the highlight of the event is the situation when the oldest member of the family finds a perfect match (from amongst the crowd at the wedding) for the youngest member of the family, even if she/he is not eligible.
- The extreme level of wastage, from wastage of food, water, electricity, money to wastage of time.
- The mind boggling logistics involved in management of the entire affair in such a way that no stone should be left unturned to impress not only the opposite party but also the relatives and the near and dear friends
All said and done, weddings are, no doubt, fun-filled but they come with price that has to be paid. Some youngsters still dream of a traditional and colorful wedding while some are strictly against the same. It is a matter of time and money. One who has both, can enjoy and bask in the glory of the memories that would be made and the one who does not have both, can opt for a different ceremony altogether because “in the end that was the choice you made, and it doesn’t matter how hard it was to make it. It matters that you did.”
