Weddings are a goldmine of humour. The eagerness to get through the rituals sometimes leads to mistakes that remain etched in comical memory for those involved. One of the funniest videos I have spotted on the internet this year is a short clip that perfectly captures the drama of a wedding, presumably held somewhere in Tamil Nadu.
Some context first. Weddings in India are a great platform for people to flaunt their prosperity – not on the scale of the Ambanis, perhaps, but relative to family members and friends. A central part of this flaunting of wealth is the gift one gives to the couple. In small towns and villages, the gifts and the amount of money given are announced on loud speakers, turning it into some sort of a contest.
Just as important as this opportunity to show off is the need to make one’s presence at the wedding felt – through videos and photographs. After all, why bother dressing up if no one notices? But as we see in this video, such eagerness can often turn hilarious.
Here, the man in the blue shirt is so focused on the camera that instead of blessing the couple with “akshadhai” – usually some rice mixed with turmeric or a bit of water that elders sprinkle on the couple – he picks up a pot of milk and douses them with it. This was surely a nightmare for the bride, given the hours of torturous effort that went into making her decorated braid. The man does this twice, before the groom loses it. The man’s reaction when he realises what he’s done is the punchline for the whole sequence.
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