My grandfather’s iconic words “Count Your Blessings” and I start counting — senior position with a daily newspaper, lead actor on the Gujarati stage, member of the prestigious club CCI and the pretty young thing by my side that I have been talking about. I was 28 then. I am 82 now and still counting!
For most people, Sunday is the day to de-stress, spend time with the family, watch a movie or a play. But not for me. For me it used to be about rehearsing my lines, rushing to the theatre, putting on greasepaint, getting ready with my costume and waiting for the third bell before the curtain went up. And, I would not have had it any other way. If there was no performance, I would felt lost!
After the ‘dating’ phase, came the ‘courting’ days. Saturday evenings were either at the movies sitting hand-in-hand with my pretty young thing, or on the CCI lawns, listening to Ken Mac and his band, his daughter Pamela on a wheelchair singing away blues numbers, couples young and old on the dance floor. We would join in especially during the slow, romantic numbers. I remember once while dancing we were so lost in each other that we didn’t realize the music had stopped and there was no one on the floor. When it dawned on us we hastily returned to our seats, quite embarrassed, much to the amusement of others.
The wedding date was finally announced. It was held at Albless Baug near Charni road. The set-up was typically Parsi — an illuminated pandal decorated with flowers, a band in attendance, my brother and the elders at the gate to receive the guests, the couple in their wedding regalia surrounded by the immediate family, the two priests all ready to start the ceremony, BUT, the chairs on which the couple has to sit for the ceremony to begin had not yet reached.
Even guests started arriving. My would-be-wife was looking at me anxiously, the priests were getting restless; there was tension in the air!
Finally the chairs arrived. Everyone around me looked amused. I did not understand till my cousin standing next to me pointed out that one chair was smaller than the other. I looked like a fool because I had selected the chairs and placed the order!
Ceremony over, the guests followed to offer their greetings and gifts. A typical Parsi tradition is to gift cash. We call it chaandla. The general practice was to gift an amount that would match the cost of the paatra (dinner was called paatra since it was served on a plantain leaf).The price those days was around Rs250 per paatra. A couple would then generally give Rs501 as chaandla. Today the same “paatra”will cost Rs2500 or more.
Finally, the loud announcement most men are anxiously waiting for: “Bar par chaalo saahebo”( gentlemen the bar is open). A few ladies would join too, others would sit and gossip till it was time for the second announcement “Jamwa Chaaloji” (Dinner is served), and a rush to sit in the first batch especially for those who stayed far away. Depending on the number of guests there could be two or three sittings, each approximating 100 guests.
Many of my non-Parsi friends look forward to attending the Parsi wedding not to witness the ceremony but for the traditional paatra dinner consisting of six-eight courses of Parsi delicacies.
For most people, Sunday is the day to de-stress, spend time with the family, watch a movie or a play. But not for me. For me it used to be about rehearsing my lines, rushing to the theatre, putting on greasepaint, getting ready with my costume and waiting for the third bell before the curtain went up. And, I would not have had it any other way. If there was no performance, I would felt lost!
After the ‘dating’ phase, came the ‘courting’ days. Saturday evenings were either at the movies sitting hand-in-hand with my pretty young thing, or on the CCI lawns, listening to Ken Mac and his band, his daughter Pamela on a wheelchair singing away blues numbers, couples young and old on the dance floor. We would join in especially during the slow, romantic numbers. I remember once while dancing we were so lost in each other that we didn’t realize the music had stopped and there was no one on the floor. When it dawned on us we hastily returned to our seats, quite embarrassed, much to the amusement of others.
The wedding date was finally announced. It was held at Albless Baug near Charni road. The set-up was typically Parsi — an illuminated pandal decorated with flowers, a band in attendance, my brother and the elders at the gate to receive the guests, the couple in their wedding regalia surrounded by the immediate family, the two priests all ready to start the ceremony, BUT, the chairs on which the couple has to sit for the ceremony to begin had not yet reached.
Even guests started arriving. My would-be-wife was looking at me anxiously, the priests were getting restless; there was tension in the air!
Finally the chairs arrived. Everyone around me looked amused. I did not understand till my cousin standing next to me pointed out that one chair was smaller than the other. I looked like a fool because I had selected the chairs and placed the order!
Ceremony over, the guests followed to offer their greetings and gifts. A typical Parsi tradition is to gift cash. We call it chaandla. The general practice was to gift an amount that would match the cost of the paatra (dinner was called paatra since it was served on a plantain leaf).The price those days was around Rs250 per paatra. A couple would then generally give Rs501 as chaandla. Today the same “paatra”will cost Rs2500 or more.
Finally, the loud announcement most men are anxiously waiting for: “Bar par chaalo saahebo”( gentlemen the bar is open). A few ladies would join too, others would sit and gossip till it was time for the second announcement “Jamwa Chaaloji” (Dinner is served), and a rush to sit in the first batch especially for those who stayed far away. Depending on the number of guests there could be two or three sittings, each approximating 100 guests.
Many of my non-Parsi friends look forward to attending the Parsi wedding not to witness the ceremony but for the traditional paatra dinner consisting of six-eight courses of Parsi delicacies.
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