My uncle owned the national water company, so he was quite wealthy and had built a mansion in place of the old house, which my late granddad had built. The mansion was very extravagant and royal looking; it consisted of twenty-three rooms; three gardens; a playing field and a lake, which was quite adequate to cater for the wedding.
I chose the bedroom closest to the dining room because it was the centre of action and always looked exciting.
In our house my grandmother, three of my aunts and my uncle all lived together. My dad had a remarkable eight brothers and eight sisters, from which sixty-three cousins derived. All of my cousins and relatives were to attend this wedding and were due to arrive in the next two days. Most of my cousins lived in nearby towns except some who lived in America and England.
The next day, early in the morning, my cousins arrived from America. They both were identical twins named Ahmed and Shakeel. They were same age as me, fifteen years old. They had jet-black hair, twinkling brown eyes and a mischievous look. I was shy at first, but that was not the personality they shared; they were talkative and active. They became good friends with me in the matter of a short time.
The rest of my cousins and relatives arrived and there were so many people to meet.
To finish off the night about fifteen of us got together and played hide and seek outside, where there was very little light which made it creepy and at the same time exciting.
Now there were only two days left till the wedding. Vast plans had been made and in order to meet the targets in time a lot of preparation was needed. The plans looked more like a military operation than a wedding plan. There were many groups assigned to many different tasks: decorating the hall; table setting; decorating the interior and exterior of the house using Christmas lights; transport for the bride, groom and close family. Arrangements for cooks, hall staff, waiters and security had already been made.
My uncle had invited four thousand guests to the wedding, which I did not think was a wise thing to do because even though we had the work force it took a lot of management, understanding and engineering. Most obviously, Catering for four thousand people was not an easy thing to do. After two days of complete chaos and pandemonium, there were a signs of relief and completion. The original plan was designed so that the family did not have to do anything, but it was a little different from that. I was exhausted.
I was tired but excited, all of my cousins stayed over and we all slept in the same bedroom. We did not get to sleep till very late because none of us would stop talking. Finally I drifted off with the cool wind blowing in my face from the fan above.
In Bangladesh the electricity would go off every so often, all the fans would then go off and it would be boiling hot. The light was not a problem because we had rechargeable lights, but you could not sit in the light because of the mosquitoes.
I rose early in the morning refreshed and re-energized ready for the big day ahead. From where I was sleeping I could smell the fragrance of the tea that was brewing on the kitchen stove and hear the voices of the maids preparing breakfast.
The bride and the groom were ready to go and the limousine arrived on time. My uncle and my new aunt were taken to the car in the traditional way. Flowers were thrown on top of them and the bride is made to walk slowly so everyone gets a chance to embrace her.
Bengali weddings are very different from English weddings there is a lot of tradition and culture involved.
Gates had to be made out of thousands of roses and palm leaves and were put up at the entrances and exits of the house, which they believed bought them good luck.
I wanted to sit in the limousine as well because I determined it would be a more comfortable ride, so I convinced one of my cousins to sit in the limousine with me. It was slightly better but it did not make that much difference, the road surface was still bad.
It was dark and the air was warm and gentle, it was perfect weather.
The bride and the groom took their seats while we waited everyone’s arrival.
There still was half an hour till the ceremony, so I decided to pay a visit to the kitchen where I saw the cooks who were nervous because their job was not over until everyone had eaten.
The bride and groom were taking to the stage where they were united and the ceremony began, there was complete silence in the hall, something I had not heard for a long time. The imam read the sermon and it was announced how much dowry my uncle was paying in tribute to my aunt.
The ceremony came to an end and all the movement and noise restarted. The first group guests were taken to their dining tables and were ready to start eating.
They were about start eating, but they were interrupted when something shocking and unwanted happened: the lights went out. My uncle had forgotten to arrange for a electricity generator, now everybody was sitting in total darkness. I could almost see the horror on my uncle’s face in the dark, as everyone was beginning to worry and become restless. One minute in the dark seemed like an hour to me and I think it seemed a lot longer for my uncle.
As I sat there not being able to see my own hand, a light shone in my eye. The light was in the distance, it was the light of a torch, which was not very hopeful. I waited the arrival of the mysterious person; I could not identify him because the beam of light was directly in my face, as he came within a distance of two or three metres I exclaimed “Who’s there “, but before the person could answer the lights came back on in a flash. There was great sigh of relief from my uncle.
I went over to the tables were the guests were busy eating and realised that some of them were on there second serving, so I assumed they must have been hungry and eaten in the dark.
I saw Ahmed strolling around with a torch in his hand so I knew it was him who was playing around in the dark.
Most of the people had finished eating and were leaving now.
All our family were sitting at the tables ready to be served. It was planned for us to eat after everyone had left, which was good because we could eat in peace.
While we were eating the servants were loading the presents onto the van.
I ate so much that I could not get up from my chair, but my grandmother still thought I did not eat enough, she never thought I ate enough.
I was due back in two days and to finish off my stay we arranged a barbeque.
We roasted a whole lamb and various vegetables, which I had not seen before. The food was succulent and satisfying.
I spent the rest of my days playing football and swimming in the lake with my cousins. I also spent a lot of my time with my grandmother. Sometimes I used to go and swim on my own late in the afternoon, which was very relaxing because the water was cool and the sun was warm so there was a comforting balance.
It was time for me to leave so I had to say good-bye to everyone, I wished I could stay for longer but I had to get back for school.
My uncle dropped me off at the airport where I started the long journey again. This was the best holiday I ever had.
