Three Day Wedding of Babbu

I vividly remember the marriage of my mother's cousin Babbu at Haldipur, a small town between Kumta and Honavar It was a three-day wedding!. The bride was hardly fifteen, and groom, twice her age. The bride had no father and her mother reared two water buffaloes, whose milk she sold for a living. The groom belonged to a very well-off family who had a car of their own! It was a rarity.  My siblings and I thought at the time that only "Gore" (white) people (British) owned the cars.

The huge marriage pendal, the big temporary shed kitchen and the bustling crowd were a new sight. Almost all relatives, spread over the district with lots of children had arrived. All the expenses were bourn by the groom's party. This was a great event as discussed by most elders.

The pretty young bride clad in nine-yard saree was of special attraction to me. I had accompanied her on request on the previous day of marriage, when she went to cater daily supply of milk, to the houses. She avoided the crowd at the entrance and sneaked through hind door of her house and a narrow path, which passed through fields. The thick coconut plantation, the creek and riverside have left a very green memory in my mind.

See Also:

• Synopsis of Suragya Sar -Garland of Suragi Flowers
• Memoirs of Ankola