Maami... setha vazhi vidungo..

I draped a copper sulphate blue kanchivaram with all the paraphernalia (vaira thodu, maattal, jimikki, metti, golusu, thaali, malligai poo that was somehow managed on my short hair) and made my way to my mom's chittapa's son's janavasam/maapillai azhaippu/nischayathaartham. My mom met me at the gate (she had left earlier..) and asked me to have tiffin. Catering by Meenambiga Caterers.. the tiffin consisted of 5 mini idlis (like the Saravana Bhavan 14 idlis..) of course this had no ghee.. and 1 spoon lemon sevai, 1 spoon thengai sevai, 1 piece halwa, 1 spoon pineapple kesari, 2 veg bonda with thengai chutney and some really nice thick coffee...

Then I came down to the main hall, and sat near a group of known mamis...(my mom's athais, athais' daughters and my paati). The conversation goes like this:
Sundaram Athai: yaaru manni idhu? (manni = my mom's mom..) namma geetha periya ponna? (geetha is my mom). 5 - 6 maasa kozhandhaiya irukarchey paathadhu...ennama valandhutta...(!! ippovum appadiye iruka mudiyumaa?? eh ??) maida maavu bommaiyattam irukkum appo... endi ippadi karuthu poitte?
Me: romba veyil athai...
Sundaram Athai: veyil naa ippadiya karuthu pove...

Conversation ended there....

Vidya (Mangu athai's daughter..): Geetha ponnaa maa idhu? Hi.. eppadi irukke?
Me: sowkyam.. neenga eppadi irukkel?
Vidya: Fine..:-) (she smiled..)

EOC (End of Conversation..)

Kamachee athai: ennadi aathukarar varliyaa?
Me: ille.. Bombay poirukkar..(held myself before i could say poirukkan...)

EOC

I sat back into my chair and started observing the people around...Andha color indha color endha color promise.. RMKV ad.. they need not have looked beyond this wedding hall.. For a change i saw people in different colors of silk sarees instead of the usual arakku, manjal and pachai.. there was shades of greens, grey, pink, blues and even black...(?? !!) What i really missed was the pavadai thavani and pattu pavadai kattinda figures/kutties...Couple of good looking girls were in salwar kameez and all kids were in weird costumes.. ketta kajol dress ngardhugal...

I met the groom and he said .."Hi.. eppadi irukke..romba change aayite.."
Me: "I am fine.. neengalum change aayitel.."

EOC

One particular costume that caught my eye (!! ?? ) was a girl dressed in a black crepe stretch trousers with a cream satin top, matched with a black crepe stretch jacket. She was quite dark complexioned. Added to this was her hair style which was like the old saying "parachi pukkam pora madhiri..." (no offence meant to anyone reading this..) braided into 2 thick plaits. One plait was filled with a thick double strand of jasmine flowers. And she was wearing plastic chappals...

I was yearning to see atleast one person in either pavadai thaavani or pattu pavadai chokka... when at last i saw one girl in green pavadai and brown chokka...and couple of kids too in brown pavadai and tops...

In all this, I was waiting for my mom to come back from the temple where most of the gang had gone for the janavasam. As I did not know any one else in the group, I was trying to be patient and wait. Then the whole party entered the hall. Along with my mother came her eldest chittapa...He is a very nice man but old enough that he had forgotten my name..

Chittapa: yaaru ma idhu ?
Me: Deepa chittapa...
Chittapa: Mrs. Siddharth aa.. :D (he grinned..)
Me: (manasukulla.. huh.. velila :-) aamam chittapa..
Chittapa: enga Mr. Siddharth
Me: Bombay la irukkar..adhutha vaaram than varar...(dont know how I managed to say varar.. )

EOC

It was close to 8 pm and Jayam athai announced "hey pandhi potachu... sapadravaa sapdalam.."

I waited for my mom, dad, mama and paatti to come and then we all went upstairs to eat. Eat we did with the minimal food that was served. No second serving. Curry was served with a plastic spoon that we might use for medicine..Anyways.. I am not complaining. I presume that the crowd was much more than what they had expected. I know what it is like when the crowd expands like a balloon..

After dinner, we went to say bye to some athais and their daughters who were also eating. As we were talking..one parjarakar told me.."maami setha vazhi vidungo......"

Oh so I have also become a maami.. among this group of maamis!!!! :-)))