The big fat Bikaneri Wedding

From nowhere 4 of us combined forces to take the same flight on Friday, even if it was at the cost of burning quite a few bucks. By midnight we were at jaipur waiting for the elusive cab driver, finally the one that turned up was napping along with our co-pilot Vinit. Finally mighty Gaurav came to our rescue as usual and drove for the rest of the journey.On our way we managed to lay our hands on some authentic Rajasthani food and we devoured it as if we were hungry since last 1 week. But the best was yet to come
When we reached Bikaner on the wintry morning we could barely move our bones, we crash landed in the hotel only to be woken up for lunch. Along with different Rajasthani preparations one that stood out was the mouthwatering Gajar ka halwa made in pure ghee. Our stomachs were full but we couldnt satiate our hunger for Gajar ka halwa. With a heavy stomach we went back to our rooms and started planning for the drinking binge that weekend.
By the time we came back in the evening in our self styled Kurtas and Sherwanis the music had begun and Saurabh's family were busy displaying their talents in song and dance events. Thats when we realised apart from Saurabh the whole family was quite talented. Saurabh's talent was probably buried by his laziness to move which was effectively in display every time he pretended to bend to seek his elders blessings.
Just when there was competition as to which group (bride vs the groom's side) could pull in more numbers on the dance floor our guys were busy fighting to live upto the Royal Challenge and I'd to incur Saurabh's sister's wrath that our guys never turned up on time.But when our charged group reached the dance floor we captured the stage for the rest of the night till we were forced out by the family elders.Again we took solace in the grand food laid out in the gardens of Kothari palace and everyone was pushing us to try out the local food on display there. It was time for Royal Challenge again in the night which continued till the wee hours of morning.Breakfast was the only motivation to get up on a cold and cosy morning in Bikaner. When we reached for breakfast(it was already lunch time)some of the best variety of sweets,badam ka halwa , dal ka halwa, Rajbhog and God knows what, but we tried everything and we were trying to satiate our hosts hospitality.
We decided to skip lunch and spend the afternoon in leisure but a call from Saurabh after 2 hours changed our mind and we devoured the after meal with the same vigour.Thats when we saw they were making safas(turbans) for everyone in the family in the typical Rajashtani style and in the next 1hourwe got our ourselves clicked in Rajasthani safas.Being lazy we never bothered to get a gift for Saurabh, but kudos to Rajasthani hospitaly we were gifted boxes of sweetsand a high quality bedsheets which my mom would like.We never missed an oppourtunity to get ourselves photographed and shot some funny moments on video as well.
For the first time I shed my inhibitions and danced for 2 hours on the streets of Bikaner when the procession/Baarat was out in the evening.Just when we thought we had shaken quite aleg the DJ blared out music for another hour.
We took a break and chose to haveone final look on wat was on display on the wedding day.It was a mind boggling scene, on one corner I could see someone dishing out hot jalebis and flavoured milk, other side I could see the bestsalad and fruit dressings. Moving forward we could see different varieties of desserts and gulab jamun and other sweets which I could neither identify nor count as there was so much to try out.Gaurav's favorite was the chaat corner and much to our surprise they were also serving dosas.Somebody then pointed they had got tandoors installed in the garden and were dishing out different kinds of rotis which were served with some authentic sabzis likegatte ki sabzi, sangni ki sabzi etc. Gaurav liked sangni ki sabzi so much, he got a week's quota packed for him.

Lesson of fig tree

I had read over and over again that the human mind is like a garden and you should not let a single bad thought enter your mind. I had promised myself that I wont blog till I got rid of the mess cleared from my head. I stopped brooding about the past, didnt care a damn for the future. I was on the look out for anything which would burden my infertile mind which could sow only negative impulses.

I feared I had become quite like the fig tree in the parable which refused to grow despite being watered regularly and given enough opportunity and time to mend its ways. It was as if I enjoyed feeling this way and there was a strong sense of unwillingness to let go of misery. For the first time I feared happiness, as if I was afraid to come out of the self created quagmire.

I tried everything in the book, first being the natural impulse to run away from conflict but I knew there was never a finishing line. I was always on the run not knowing where to go , where to stop and sometimes wondering how I could not run out of steam. My search for a bigger crisis could keep me engaged for some days, however as soon as I chose to seek rest the same thoughts would play havoc with my mind.

The fig tree was dispensable, with all humility I saw myself as just another cog in the wheel. But I was not sure the cog could let go of its responsibility especially when so much effort was put by so many to make me fit in the wheel.
I dont want to give up my quest for wisdom, righteousness, redemption though I strayed a million times. If this was my destiny I dont want to go down without putting a fight lest my soul wearily tread in this universe with remorse that I chose to defeat my own self.