the chronicles of the Singh's on lane 42 (xiii)- Enya

After the baraat arrived, at the gates ‘jaymala’ was done in which Enya put the garland on the groom and the groom reciprocated it. My cousin Sangeeta made a hefty sum that moment as she became stubborn on not allowing the groom to garland Enya unless he paid 5000 Rs. Poor groom! For him this was the spending spree’s trailer. A lady was yet to move in his home.

Majority of the crowd was sent to the food court and few relatives, parents and the groom's friends were taken to the mandaap. The pandit started the incantation and the ceremony began. The first phase took some half an hour where the groom was endowed with cloth, money and gold. After this phase the pandit spoke his favourite line: “Dulhan ko bulaayei.”

My maternal uncles carried Enya on their shoulders and sate her beside the groom. The priest re-went back to his incantations, and after a while asked me to tie the famous “gatjod”. This part was supposed to be done by my mom, but I believe she was watching from above. She won’t miss it at any cost!

The pair started making rounds with the sacred fire as the witness. My dad and mom had taken seven “pheras” but these days they have been reduced to four. Each round has its own significance. The first three were lead by Rahul and the last one by Enya. Finally, after the pheras my dad did the “kanyadaan”. Enya and Rahul was a couple now!



Rahul and Enya were taken to the house’s mandir and were made to put their palm prints on a square made on the wall beside the idols. First palm print was daubed in ghee and the second one in mehendi. The couple were then parted for dinner. Rahul was led by his friends and Enya by Sangeeta and Maya. Dad signaled me to take Enya’s in laws to the food court and return back to the attic. He had something on his mind!

Dad: “Enya was adopted by your mom and me when she was six months old. She had the hazel eyes similar to your mom.”

Me: “what?”

Dad: “Your mom and I never intended to tell anyone, and wanted the little secret to die with us. But, now I cannot bear it any more. ”

Me: “Well... still it must go with you. She is family, and by raising her in such wonderful way you have proved to be her father; a better man than the one who left her at the orphanage. She is a sister to me and will remain so no matter mom gave birth to her or some xyz woman. I love her too much.”

Dad whispered thanks in an extremely low voice. His eyes had started watering and tears were rolling down his cheeks. Enya spotted us with tears while returning back from the attic, she came running back to us the way she used to do when she was a kid and hugged us tightly.

“You need not cry. I am not going anywhere.” Dad, Enya and I broke into heavy tears.

Enya was sent to her new home along with Rahul. The last rite was done by my eldest mausi. She had to smear her hand in mehendi and make a palm print on the shirt of Rahul’s grandfather. Haryaanvi’s love mehendi and harbor greater love for consecrating everything they see with it!

Enya was gone, to build a new home. She left me with Lata Mangeskar's two lines:

मेरा कहा सूना सब माफ़ करना
कुछ रोज़ तेरे घर रह चली वे ...

मैं देस में दुसरो के चली वे...
भरी प्यार की झोली;
मेरी, पर देख खाली
कोई चीज़ भी साथ न ले चली वे

I was going to miss her, and miss her like hell! Maya was standing beside me wiping her moist eyes with her handkerchief.

Suddenly Sangeeta came running to us and said, “bhaiyaa, out of the five, thousand rupee notes three have been issued by the Children’s Bank of India. They are nakli!”