It seems that unbeknown to me, my personality has been surreptitiously removed and replaced with an entity called “Bride-to-be”. What bought on this sudden realisation? The fact that no-one in my family speaks to me about anything other than the wedding. Sure, it was a specifically wedding-focused weekend with Saturday containing a visit from the Groom and his family and Sunday spent picking up and trying on my freshly tailored wedding outfit but y’know, I can still talk about other stuff.
I still have opinions about general life. I can still talk about the latest movie or the book I’m reading or how funky Jon Snow’s tie is tonight or how the new Pantene is a load of crap. But no, I’m forced to talk wedding rings and furniture buying and beautician finding and card choosing. I know that these are things that need to be talked about but for the sake of my sanity, surely these topics can be punctuated with the occasional, “Hey, did you watch Lost last night? What is Henry Gale up to?” or “What do you think about the Google-News Corp deal?” or even “Damn, hasn’t the weather been crazy lately?”
Every time I encounter one of my sisters, I make it a point to talk about topics ranging from the interesting to the inane; anything that is not wedding but inevitably, like it was ordained by Allah Himself, the conversation rolls around to wedding talk. So now I have withdrawn into a shell of reading, eating and scowling. If that is so, why am I here talking wedding? Because it’s under my skin, crawling around and I’m just about managing to contain Bridezilla (crazy, unhinged, control-freak type monster).
Two things are probably worth a mention:
Firstly: Bengali (or at least Sylheti) custom dictates that the Bride’s family must buy the Groom’s family a whole new set of furniture (generally speaking, the bare minimum would include a double bed, closet set, dining table and chairs, sofa set, showcase, fridge, washing machine, television, microwave). This would be a sensible practice if the couple was moving into a place of their own but this is not usually the case. Usually the new furniture is housed in the family home after which all original furniture is either thrown out or given away despite being in perfect working condition. How is this good sense? Surely the money spent on this largely unnecessary custom would be better put aside for the couple’s future together? But custom is custom and must be adhered to.
Secondly: My plan to get in shape. Thankfully I’m naturally slim (thanks dad) and can pretty much eat what I want without having to exercise but most girls over the age of 22 will tell you about the little bumps that appear just above their hips and it’s those that I want to get rid of. But I’m lazy. Damn lazy. I’m hardworking when it comes to mental activity but physical exercise? Bah, I say. Bah! Last year I went to Decathlon and bought myself sports gear. The running shoes have never seen the light of day. It’s something I really want to do, not only for the dreaded bumps but just to get fit. And those of you who say, “But you’re slim, you don’t need to get fit,” ought to walk up a set of escalators with me and soon you will be retracting that statement.
So yeah, those are my two little niggles but apart from that, I think I’m doing quite well to keep my cool amidst this storm. But who knows how long my grip will remain on the reigns of Bridezilla?