We could be from any part of India, but if there is one thing that can unite us like nothing else can, then it is our collective love for weddings.
There is one more thing that unites us Indians during the wedding season and it is a law called the ‘Murphy’s Law of Indian Weddings’. The law states that if there is anything that can go wrong in a wedding, it will go wrong. And nobody is above this law. “Tu jaantha nahi mera baap kaun hai,’ will just not work!
The laws in action…
1. It HAS TO rain if the wedding is outdoors
India is very much predictable when it comes to rains but Murphy’s Laws affects the monsoon clouds too. It will be a bright and sunny day whenever the wedding reception is held inside a hall, but it will start pouring when the reception is hosted on the lawn or the grounds. And this will also happen in places where the rain gods haven’t visited in a year!
2. The more EXPENSIVE the bridal trousseau, the more the chance of it getting DAMAGED
When the bride’s very beautiful and expensive lehenga gets damaged, we say ‘nazar lag gayi’, don’t we? But, it’s actually Murphy’s law for wedding wear in action – you buy something cheap and ugly for your wedding, the law will be nowhere to be seen, but the moment you decide to buy the best attire for your wedding, the law will come into force.
A thread from the pretty zardosi work will come loose, the choli will get stained, the ghagra bottom will get caught at the door, or worse the stitches will come off a wedding gown at the wrong places at the wrong time.
3. Stain causing liquids HAVE TO spill on your wedding dress
The Murphy’s law for wedding wear has another sub law, and it controls how staining liquids will spoil your wedding wear. The law works like this – you drink a glass of regular water very carelessly but not a drop will spill on your wedding dress; but the moment you are sipping on a cup of tea or coffee extra carefully, it has to spill on your expensive lehenga.
This law can be seen in action at the sangeet, the haldi, the mehendi or even just before the reception.
4. The wedding pimple, seen ONLY ON wedding day
Murphy’s laws can affect in ways unknown. What we think is from body heat, excessive oil and stress, is actually another of Murphy’s laws in action, and it works like this – The bride might have never suffered a single pimple even in her teens, but on the one most important day of her life, she will surely have a pimple that gets uglier by the minute.
This also holds true for the bride’s or the groom’s younger sister who wants to look her prettiest best on the wedding day.
5. The less ARRANGEMENTS you have made, the more the number of GUESTS
Guests never RSVP for an Indian wedding. You never know how many guests will arrive from the 500 invitations that you have sent across. But, there is a Murphy’s law that takes care of this, the Murpy’s Law for wedding guests –
If you have made arrangements for 2000 guests along with their families, only a few hundred will turn up, but if you have arranged for only an expected 300-500 guests, all 2000 will make an appearance along with their extended relatives.
6. The nearest guests are ALWAYS the ones to arrive last
Guests from far off towns and countries will arrive at the beginning of all the events. But, the guests living in the same town or the same housing society will be the last to make their presence. What to do, that is Murphy’s law in action. Wedding guests will always follow it!
You can’t do pretty much anything about things that go wrong at the last minute, but you can always keep that smile on. Minimise the ill effects of Murphy’s Laws with a positive attitude, water-proof makeup, an emergency kit of safety pins, needle and thread, stain removers, and a sense of adventure. After all, a wedding is the biggest adventure you will take in a lifetime!
And remember, you will have extraordinary wedding stories to share with your children and their children!