Heartbreaking Departure

Horrible experience of attending a niece's wedding.

Though my relations with my brother’s wife were soaring but still I jumped with joy after getting a marriage invitation from my niece (my elder brother’s daughter). We all were very excited to attend my niece's wedding. I enthusiastically planned the rituals to be performed on the marriage occasion. In our culture, to wear traditional attire is normally appreciated in attending holy prayer and religious ceremonies. We bought new and startling party wear outfits for different occasions in marriage. In my family, four members were there to attend the marriage. The marriage program was planned for four days, I arranged all the necessary items such as designer jewelry, foot wears, and purses to feel the real enjoyment and to make the moment memorable.

The most important part of the marriage was the gift to my niece. I spent long hours selecting different types of fancy and useful gift items for my lovely niece. Ultimately the mission was accomplished through in-depth surveying and buying gift items such as one big kitchen items, gorgeous party dress, some jewelry, chocolates and traditional sweets. Packages of all items were made very attractive. Then we started packing for travelling by car to reach the marriage destination. Excitement was at pinnacle as it was the first marriage in the younger generation and also I was very close to my niece during my college time.

We started our journey at dawn that day. My husband was driving the car. Me and my daughters were enjoying the stunning natural landscape. We took a break for breakfast and confirmed to my brother’s family our plans to attend the marriage occasion. We started after half an hour. It took approximately 7 hours to reach the city where the marriage ceremony was to be held. Since the city was not familiar to us, we tried to contact my brother’s family about the accommodation but they did not reply. We thought that maybe they were very busy with marriage arrangements. Therefore, we found hotel accommodation to make ourselves comfortable.

After getting ready for the party, we all again contacted my brother’s family and that time, one relative picked up the call. She guided us on how to reach the marriage spot as she was a resident of that city. We faced many hurdles, rough roads and traffic congestion on the way to the marriage place. Somehow, we reached our destination. As we entered the marriage hall, no one came to us. Everybody was pretending to be busy in their affair. Still, we ignored and started looking for my brother. But he was engaged in performing some prayer. So, we stepped inside the marriage hall. There I met the sister of my brother's wife. She was trying to ignore it but we encountered each other and had formal talks. At the same time, my brother’s wife saw us and started shouting, why didn’t you inform us about your plan to attend the marriage. We were shocked and upset. Then, a relative of my brother’s wife clarified that they had already informed us and then my brother's wife ran away from the scene. My brother’s wife also left us to attend other guests. It was really embarrassing for us. We all had great planning, and enthusiasm to attend the marriage and such a distressing experience penetrated my heart.

We were standing in the marriage garden and observing the functions over there. My second brother suddenly saw us holding the gift and was isolated from function. He immediately came to meet us and asked to take a seat in the marriage hall. I was depressed and planning to leave the party but my second brother requested to intermingle with other guests and stay back. I was convinced and sat as a distant guest in the marriage hall. After the pre-wedding function was over and all guests went for dinner, only the four were left in the marriage hall. I was feeling extremely dejected and my mind was bombarded with intense negative thoughts as to why we planned to attend this kind of marriage.

The worst and heart wrenching experience of the marriage ceremony was my brother’s rude attitude towards me and his wife’s irate behavior. After some time my brother’s wife approached us and yelled with an aggressive tone, ‘why are you not having dinner? Go and eat. Why are you standing here’. That was insulting. Nobody comes to attend the marriage for dinner. We came all the way to bless my niece. She took the gift from me and uttered some absurd words. In such a disconcerting ambiance, my voice was choked and we did not say anything. My husband and daughters ate little food but I took a plate and didn’t eat anything.

 It was a strong ground for us to walk out from the party as my brother also did not respond well and never contacted thereafter. Now I feel that it was a right decision to walk out from the marriage ceremony. But we couldn’t find the reason behind the weird behavior of my brother and his wife.   

 

Important note: Above narrative is based on a true event. Any resemblance is just a coincidence. Writer is not responsible for any disagreement.