The plight of her wedding-planning brethren during the last two years.
She rises from the ashes, like a phoenix. Not like one of those beautiful ones with the magnificent wings, though. More like a phoenix who resembles a stuffed pigeon, overfed through the many home-cooked meals, Grab food deliveries, and food from ‘friends-turned chefs’ during the numerous lockdowns.
She primps her wings, and gets ready to fly to Neverland, the place of no return, the sacred land of wedding planning, where family and social commitments are forgotten and replaced by liquid nitrogen kulfi and fireworks; the land that she eats, dreams, and breathes and that she longs to return to. (She may have taken the eating part too seriously, though. Anyhow.)
Alas, before she even takes flight, they decide to clip her wings and change the rules again, and tell her, “Sorry, not now. We are going to sandbox your livelihood.” No pun intended.
“But, wait a minute – you now have a better option,” they say. “Just invite a few hundred wedding guests to Thailand, we will test them and lock them up for a wee bit, say 12 hours, and after that, thou shalt be set free. What say? Although restrictions are being eased, it’s been 24 months of barely any couples being able to come to The Land of Smiles to take the plunge. Maybe the pandemic is actually doing them a favour and allowing them to keep their smiles?” But that’s a discussion for another day.
While we’re not sure about all the ‘young-in-love’ couples, let’s get back to her. The pandemic is certainly not doing her any favours. She yearns for some action. She longs for brides to tell her, “I want this wedding to be different,” whilst confirming décor pictures from other weddings. She longs to blame the extra few kilos on the compulsory food tastings that come with the job. She longs to hear the words, “we have a problem” only because the Blue Label is over, and the guests are having way too much fun dancing to the new and improved 54th remixed version of Muqabla. When will she be able to face these real-world problems again?
Sooner than we think, actually! Bookings are finally pouring in, and pandit-jis are matching kundlis like there is no tomorrow! And when we all finally get back in action, the extra weight gain will not deter her from taking flight and spreading her plump wings up high for all to see. For she will return. Stronger than before, with the brewing of new ideas and the streamlining of operations for even smoother weddings (smooth, post-marital bliss NOT guaranteed). So, keep looking up, my friends. She will be back, with her new creations, designing weddings of a lifetime for ‘two-hearts-that-beat as one.’ For better or for worse.
