Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A Wedding Invitation!


Hmm...as I am on the subject of old again, here is something that is pretty old. What you see above are invitations to the wedding of my grandparents! Both are in Kannada. My granny told me this morning that the second one was printed first. But it did not mention her father's name properly and the groom's family called off the wedding! Thankfully, amends were made and the first one was printed!

The wedding was held on 19th May 1946, one year before Independence. Next year, it will be 60 years since gran first came to Madikeri! That is just wow!!!

Those were the times, she tells me! Madikeri was a dozen times colder than it is today, her mother-in-law was a very traditional lady, though not a tyrant. She had to cook for at least three dozen people every day along with the rest of the womenfolk. Festivals were great fun, cooking during days when they had to fast was a torture, people were always in and out of the house. She would go to the temple for musical nights, the books she would buy on the sly, God the stories I grew up listening to!

My gran is an amazing storyteller. As a kid, I would make her tell me up to 4-5 stories every day, from the mythologies, stories of kings and princesses and witches. The best were her stories of her childhood. She has the ability to bring the entire scene before the eyes with her imitations. My cousins and some of my friends will vouch for her skills.

It is sad that the kids of today are too busy trying to outdo their neighbour to sit and listen to a good story. I have nothing against Pokeman or Harry Potter, but I really think kids need to learn their history and stories of their country too.

My mother could never tell stories well, I am no better. So my grand plan for my sem holidays is to record at least some of my granny's stories and preserve what is in itself a lost art.

3 comments:

San Nakji said...

It is important to maintain these old stories. Make sure you do record them for future generations in your family!

Friar Tuck said...

I have this thing in my Bible where my great-grandparents signed a church membership covenant in 1936. It is something I treasure.

IcEyeZ said...

Well I still listen to my moms stories ! ;-)