A reverse culture shock

Sheer scale of extravagance and wastage occurs during Pakistani weddings.

Upon returning home after spending some years studying abroad, I came across something that was not only expected but also something that I was looking forward to – the wedding season.

But, as it turned out, I wasn’t exactly prepared for what was in store for me. As I was hoping, with winter came the wedding season. Being invited to multiple weddings, it seemed that the months of November and December were nothing more than a blur of wedding colours. Seriously, the memory has become hazy.

But at some point, I distinctly remember thinking that all this is simply overwhelming and I couldn’t wait for it to end. (Seriously, how many different dance routines can one remember?) I found myself looking forward to the New Year, hoping it would usher in the end of the wedding season.

Unfortunately, weddings just wouldn’t stop chasing me. January also became a month of weddings and then February and even March!  But this rant isn’t just about me being invited to too many weddings. It’s also about the sheer scale of the extravagance and wastage that occurs during these events. Now, mehndi celebrations in Karachi have started having smoke/fog machines, disco-lighting, as well as lit up dance floors. Is this really warranted? Some of the mehndi set-ups I saw may even put some dance clubs in America to shame.

With all the hoopla surrounding wedding extravagances, one would have hoped that over the years our society would have embraced the idea that weddings really don’t need to be such a big deal. It shouldn’t be a competition between friends and families, it shouldn’t be a burden on families and it shouldn’t be something that further widens the gulf between the rich and the poor.

Does one stop for a second and think of those who can’t even afford a single wedding event?

With reports of mothers killing their children and fathers committing murders due to poverty, it is disgusting to see the wastages that the ‘privileged’ section of our society commits. It seems that as Pakistan’s problems are worsening, people are trying harder and harder to create distractions for themselves within their own respective bubbles.

Or, at least, I hope that this, rather than apathy, is the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2014.