Unforgettable family gathering: A highlight in my year’s calendar

By Pranshi Srivastava

A celebration in the family always provides tremendous happiness and good memories to all the members. Whether the family members are young or old, adult or teenager, it never fails to provide merriment and joy to the people involved.

Recently, I attended the wedding ceremony of my cousin. Although we had an age gap of approximately 10 years, we never felt any age gap between us and were always close as friends. I and my family members were very delighted when we heard about the announcement of her nuptials. I was thrilled and excited to see my elder sister get married so I started preparing for it. I packed all the essential items and some beautiful outfits and accessories. I was super excited as it was the wedding of my favorite cousin.

 We reached the wedding destination 4 days before the D-Day. There was a lot of chaos and I saw my relatives rushing here and there to arrange necessary items. Soon, I saw my little cousin, who was 3 years old. She was playing with a toy and was giggling. After she saw me, she smiled and threw the toy at me. I picked it up and gave it to her. She started giggling and clapping, drawing everyone’s attention toward her and the close standing, me. Everyone quickly recognised me and came to meet me. As I was visiting my native place after a long time, every member of my family was very happy to see me and was amused that I had grown so much.

The wedding house was decorated with garlands of Mogra, Marigold, Rose, and more. Fast-blinking colourful lights were spread all across the house to make it attractive and catchy to look at. Many delicious snacks like Jalebi and Samosa were being prepared to feed to guests. Each of my cousins and I were given a duty to perform. Anyone who would perform the duty with sincerity would be given the reward of having the right to eat extra Jalebi and Samosa. Due to this reward, each of us attentively performs our duties. My duty was to serve water hot tea, and coffee to each guest. I was trying my best to perform my duty and get the incentive.

At the end of the day, each of my cousins was given the right to eat extra snacks, which made us extremely happy.

On the day of sangeet, me and my cousin were very excited to dance at the function. All of us wore pretty lehengas and also applied a bit of makeup. During the function, we danced our hearts out. One of my cousins also broke her footwear as she was dancing so hard. That day, we all slept in deep sleep and were not aware when the sun rose and started to shine. All of us were woken up by the sharp sound of the mixer as some dish was being made in the kitchen.

On the day of Haldi, a giant tube tub was filled with Haldi for the ceremony. We all were running here and there and two tall men were asking us to get out of the way as they were busy transporting the tub. Suddenly, one of my cousins, Hari, while running, hit the tub and all the Haldi fell upon his brand new white kurta which he had brought exclusively for this day.

All of us were shocked but then we also busted out in laughter as his whole body was now covered with it. He was vexed by the fact that we were laughing at him and he decided to not talk to us till the wedding was over. We felt sorry for our actions and apologized to him. He forgave us and we started doing mischief, as always.

On the wedding day, there was a complete rush in the house. Everything had to be arranged and members of the family were trying to get a hold of everything. Everyone was discussing what they were going to wear and were helping each other to choose the matching accessories. When we arrived at the wedding venue, we all were astonished to see a spectacular hall decorated with garlands, bright lights, and beautiful carpets.

There was a big stage which was decorated with items which were very impressive to see. There were various stalls that were serving mouth-watering food items like Pani puri, Pizza, Chole bhature etc. My 3-year-old cousin was surprised to see such bright lights and was smiling after seeing such a bright decoration.

I ate a lot of delicious food varieties and also danced a lot. My cousins cracked a lot of jokes and we laughed until our stomach was hurting. My sister, who was also the bride was looking like an Indian princess. After utilizing all of our energy, we all slept and didn’t wake up until the wedding ceremony was over and the bride was leaving.

We got a bit emotional as she was very close to us but also we remembered that it was a part of life and she would come to visit us often. We bid goodbye to our sister with a smile on our faces and wished her a happy and healthy life.

A family function is always filled with joy, happiness, and laughter and gives you tremendous memories that make you smile even when the event is over. Nevertheless, it makes you realize that blood is thicker than water and the bonds that you have with your family are full of love, care, and happiness.