Our social lives are attuned to the custom of showing off. A marriage ceremony is treated as an opportunity to impress the magnitude of affluence on others, even if it results in budgetary cuts over the next few years. Parents save over years (actually decades) to be able to spend on that one occasion. It is fine to spend, but the problem is that a wedding ceremony becomes a circus performance. The bride and groom wait for gruelling hours, standing and smiling, their cheek hurting from having to maintain the grin for extended hours. How encouraging is that?
My own experience of wedding ceremonies (as a friend or close relative) tells me that not many people might want a simple ceremony, but those who do cannot express their desire without risking displeasure of family members. After all, log kya kahenge.
I am full of contradictions. I am socially conscious about minor things such as appearance, but on major issues, I really really think 'log kya kahenge' should be the last bit of concern. Who I am marrying, what career I want to choose for myself, how I should celebrate something - things of such importance shouldn't be decided based on 'log kya kahenge'. I have one life and should I choose to do something in one particular way, I needn't worry about people's perception.
This does not give me the licence to parade naked on the road (who wants to do that anyway!),
but yes, the bounds of social norms are imposed far too stringently in our society than I believe befits a liberal one.
Our society is not liberal, you might say. So what are we doing about it, I ask you!
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