wedding numero uno

NANDO'S LOCAL HANGOUT,PETROL STATION,THE FUN OF THE SMALL TOWN

DAD AND UNCLE ABDUL WITH A RELATIVE I DON'T REMEMBER. ABDUL WAS GETTING MUCH AMUSEMENT OUT OF THROWING THE PEANUTS AT ME, THIS IS WHAT WEDDINGS REDUCE,OTHERWISE SANE PEOPLE TO:)

THE BRIDE, BEAUTIFUL IN WHITE, LIVING IN THE COLONIES, CHANGES WEDDING TRADITION


VANIA GRANDDAUGHTERS, NINE IN TOTAL. WE ARE WILLING TO PUT THEM ON BID OR BUY, IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT. THE STORY GOES, GRANDAD WAS KEEN TO SHOW OTHERS HOW TO MAKE SONS, HIS NOW BLESSED WITH NINE BEAUTIES AND NO GRANDSON :)

AUNTY RABI AND FAUZIA(MOTHER TO THREE OF THE NINE)ANY TAKERS(FOR THE DAUGHTER'S NOT THE MOTHER :)

PLACE SETTING, BREAD STICK WAS NOT MY THING.MALA'S VEGGIES ATOP THE ORIENTAL SALAD

HALL DECOR, SOME BRITISH RAJ TYPE BROLLIES, REMINISCENT OF ELEPHANTS CARRYING MEMSAHIB'S UNDER GOLDEN BROLLIES

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE

AUNTY RABIA, LOOKING VERY CHIC, SEE YOU AT THE NEXT ONE :)

THE MISTRY'S.

THE WELCOME TABLE IN THE FOYER, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SAFE AROUND THE BARFI

OLD LADY IN BLUE, SHE WAS HAPPY TO BE IN THE PIC, DISSAPOINTED THAT SHE DIDN'T LOOK GOOD WITH A JERSEY ONE.I'M HOPING NEITHER SHE NOR "HER NEPHEW" EVER FIND ME

THE FIVE GUESTS AT THE WEDDING,PARTY ANIMALS ALL.WHO GETS THERE BEFORE THE HOST.LOL

FIRST SIGHTING OF THE BLACK PANTS,FOLLOW IT'S JOURNEY.

VIEW OF THE ROAD TO WEDDING NUMERO UNO, FROM THE BACK SEAT.


the day dawned bright and sunny,waking from a great nights rest, the sunshine put the seal on a good day to come,...as my feet touched the cool surface of the tiled floor,i remembered, tonight was wedding numero uno,oh joy...i needed a strong cup of tea, to kick start the day and then i would decide on the perfect ensemble for the black pants.

over tea, the decision made, i would go for the Chanel look, high healed boots, straightened hair,.. how wrong could it go.the black pants were making the first foray into wedding territory,

3pm shower, get dressed.
4pm, got out the trusty ghd, voila straight hair,soooo chic, NE cest pas.
4.30 pm, we were ready to hit the road, dad wanted to get an early start as the road to vereeniging, was not a pleasant drive, he was right decidedly unpleasant, single lane potholed,taxi riddled,..but we made it to the town hall.
the beautiful landscapes of the highveld are not to be seen on this drive, the farms are tired looking, no greenery in sight,i'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that it is winter, more like the people of the area are tired and have given up, the road all the way to vereeneging is littered with car sales showrooms, how many cars can be purchased in this god forsaken area, everything from peugeot to kia and all manner of vehicles in between,

vereeniging itself, is a typical afrikaans town, one main street and the usual shops, the local nando's and petrol station hang out place, clearly visible as we drove into town.how exciting, when your hang out spot, is a chicken take out franchise.
first sighting of something freaky,there were no cars in the parking lot,of the town hall. after much deliberation in the car about whether we had the correct venue,..we made the decision to park and check it all out.should we ask the four other people present if we are at the correct venue, turns out we were, things were running late,or we were just tooo early.

so there we were strangers, in a town hall, which smelled of dirty mops,and not much disinfectant, the smell opened the conversation, and i was introduced to the mistry family,a very pleasant experience and hopefully the start of a good friendship, mala was interesting to talk to, and we got off to a good start debating the pro's and cons of being a wedding guest,...the table in the foyer was set up with badaam milk,iced tea,and sweet treats, not one to pass up a treat, seeing how we were at the wedding before the hosts,(save me,... i hate weddings and it turned out that we were the first to arrive,the night seemed to stretch interminably before my unfocused eyes).we decided that tucking in would harm no one,...as i reached for a piece of barfi it happened,.....

the old lady in blue,(someone Else's khala thank god),she pursed her lips and out it came,..naam who? (what's your name)
to which i replied: rouhana
old lady: baab kon (who's your father?)
me:pointing in the general direction, nassim pahad
old lady:to toh bo ruparee (very pretty)
old lady:are u mareeed?
me:(the wheels are churning in my brain, i'm choking on the barfee, i know whats coming)i reply politely: nai
old lady: haro poiro hodwoo pare (have to find you a nice boy)
i didn't know this old lady, yet, she did it,.. and i cringed, all the while hoping and praying, the haro poiro, was not the thrice divorced, over bight, who usually frequents these do's, thank god no nephew.
she kindly agreed to pose for a picture,...and thankfully the old lady in blue disappeared amongst the guests, (sigh of relief).mala had me in stitches, as the old lady, did something else typically indian,(guji perhaps, i stand to be corrected),she carried and oversized black bag, and told mala, that you should have one of those at every wedding, cause you get great gifts, and needed somewhere to put them all. i wandered if she might be making room for the bread rolls to :)

the wedding itself was a quiet pleasant affair,with lots of glittery girls, and not many glittery boys, to make eyes at,...the food,was,well wedding food, this being a muslim wedding, mala did not have a good meal, as the veggie fair was overlooked by the chef ,.. the veg, produced was just what accompanied the meat dishes on the side, it arrived perched on top of the oriental salad that started the meal,she was a good sport though, i do believe that the mistry family, probably had a snack when they got home.

the bride was exquisite, in a beautiful white gown, with the mother of the bride,looking more like her sister than her mother,we had good company on our table, my aunt rabia from durban, the two fauzia's, sister's in law,each with three beautiful daughters,the mistry's and of course yours truly and my family, no segregation of the sexes on this table, so the conversation was wide ranging and pleasant, none of the ladies looked old enough to have married children, let alone be grandmothers, but they were, good genetics in this family.

there were no boring hour long speeches, so that made up for the fact, that we had arrived much to early, at the appropriate time, we said out goodbyes, and exited the venue, aaaah bliss, one down another to go.