Spice of life: Battle of bulge at big fat Punjabi wedding

Unfortunately, for most of us, the rich wedding food and fancy clothes don’t go hand in hand, in fact, they seem to be at constant loggerheads. Much to my disdain, I found myself in the crosshairs of this constant battle

Winter in North India is the time of celebration. Festivities begin as the weather turns from the scorching, sticky heat to a tolerable temperature. Starting from Diwali, we slowly and seamlessly move into the wedding season with all its colour and splendour. For a food enthusiast like me, one of the highlights of attending a big fat Punjabi wedding is the culinary spread I get to sample and gorge on, holding a special place in this scenario is the dessert counter.

For a food enthusiast like me, one of the highlights of attending a big fat Punjabi wedding is the culinary spread I get to sample and gorge on, holding a special place in this scenario is the dessert counter. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

My love story with sugared delicacies knows no boundaries or nationalities, the ‘jalebi’ and ‘rasmalai’ are bestowed the same respect as a banoffee pie or an apple crumble. This bias for sweets is evident to all who know me, to the point, that at a recent wedding, when a cousin asked my husband where I was, he nonchalantly said, “Check the dessert table, you’ll be sure to find her there”, and sure enough, I proved him right.

No true-blue Punjabi wedding is complete without the ‘sangeet’ night. This is an evening filled with songs, laced with wit and sarcasm, mostly directed towards the matriarch of the house, the mother-in-law. As an older aunt explained, earlier young married girls could not express their unhappiness or suppression under the iron fist of the grand old lady, so these wedding songs were a way to share their situations, under the guise of celebration, where no one would take offence. Over the last few years, the evening has metamorphosed from songs sung by the family to music dished out by a DJ, all with synchronised performances to honour the couple, music is definitely a mainstay of the event.

Another vital aspect of weddings are the outfits, particularly the attire of the women, during the festivities. The clothes to be worn are carefully selected, matched and coordinated, to the event they have been procured for. A process most husbands do not understand and despite many years of rigorous training by enthusiastic wives, they will inevitably turn up in a regular, black or grey two-piece suit, which mind you, may be repeated through almost every nuptial attended in the season.

Unfortunately, for most of us, the rich wedding food and fancy clothes don’t go hand in hand, in fact, they seem to be at constant loggerheads. Much to my disdain, I found myself in the crosshairs of this constant battle. Last year, under the influence of an overzealous and pushy relative, I found myself having placed an order for an outfit that was designed in total denial to my body size. Add to that chaos, was the sales girl who was ensuring her commission, by goading me to seal the deal, oblivious to the fact that I was closely looking like a seal and not in a cute way.

Not helping matters were the beautiful wedding ceremonies I got to attend, with their endless buffets. Just the day I thought I’d eat healthy, some well-meaning being would praise the ‘rabri’ with such enthusiasm that I could not help, but glide in that direction. The result being, the next time I tried on the newly acquired clothing, the ‘seal’ was beginning to look a lot like a ‘whale’. Not one to lose heart easily, I opened my cupboard and respectfully pulled out the time-tested sari, the most forgiving outfit of all time, for it did not limit me, instead adjusted its dimensions to suit mine.

And off we went, like a ray of sunshine to the next celebration.

a.jasveen@gmail.com

The writer runs an agri-tourism project in Hoshiarpur