The Great Indian Wedding Romance

2. Destination: Jaipur

Stifling heat and a very loud Kalbeliya performance greeted them at the Jaipur airport. 

Siddharth stared at the spectacle with a mixture of amusement and shock. Talk about grandeur. A man and a woman stood next to the Kalbeliya performers with a huge banner with ornate calligraphy that read:

Veer weds Chaarvi 

The Haldars welcome you to the auspicious occasion. 

"Wow," he whispered. 

"Now," chastised his mother, "Be on your nicest behaviour."

They approached the couple and let them know they were guests of the Rajput family. The man cross-checked their names in his list and the woman got the garlands and put them around both their necks. 

"Welcome to Jaipur Mrs Rajput, Mr Rajput," she said with a mechanical smile. 

"It's actually Ms Kashyap and Mr Kashyap--", he started to correct but his mother cut him off.

"Yes, thank you so much," she said with a gracious smile accepting the garlands. 

"So, how many people have arrived?" Siddharth asked the woman.

"A few. You are one of the first ones," she answered. 

"So you are all going to stand here till they all come in?" he asked incredulously. 

"Yes, Mr Rajput," she replied with the same mechanical smile. 

He just shook his head. If this welcome was any indication of what the wedding was going to be like then they were in for a ride. 

He got his phone out and snapped a quick picture and sent it to his friends. 

Everybody was back in Delhi by now and were disappointed when they learnt Siddharth would be in Jaipur till it was time to resume their tour. It meant they couldn't go for a vacation this year. 

It was a kind of an annual ritual of theirs to go to Goa. The last one had been cut short because they had to prep for the Battle of the Bands and the one before that had gone sort of awry for a bunch of reasons. Angad especially hated being teased about that trip. 

Siddharth was lurched out of his thoughts when the Kalbeliya performers suddenly started their music. He stared at them go through the same routine for a new set of guests that had just come out of the baggage claim.  

He just gave his mother an amused look as they were led to a row of cars and seated in one.  

The drive itself wasn't as eventful but their destination loomed in the distance because it was an actual palace. Yes, a palace that now functioned as a heritage hotel. 

"Shouldn't expect any less from the Rajputs," thought Siddharth to himself. 

But even he had to admit that it was absolutely beautiful. Even from a distance the architecture, the lawns, the decoration, everything was simply breathtaking. 

They got out of the car and immediately the hotel staff got out and handled their luggage. They were ushered into the hotel lobby along with a few other guests that had just arrived. Thankfully they hadn't run into any of their immediate family yet. It was too early in the morning for that. 

The lobby had yet another couple of staff members decked in a traditional outfit with plates full of diyas, kumkum and other auspicious paraphernalia that usually comes with it. They came forward with similar smiles on their faces and applied tika on their foreheads that Siddharth immediately rubbed off.