This is irony at its starkest, although it hit me at a moment when cynicism and black sarcasm had no business around me.
In six days time, I am getting married. Today was the day of the first of the rituals - tilak 'chumaaoun' and 'lagan'. Typical Bihari customs, the essence of which is that elder married ladies give blessings of a propitious married life to the bride-to-be. The exact term in Hindi for the custom is 'suhaag dena' - donating some of the good luck of their happily married lives to the younger woman.
An aunt of mine is a widow, and she understandably abstained. What caused me to feign a sudden coughing attack to conceal a burst of inexplicable laughter was the fact that two of my other aunts came up for the auspicious rituals. One of them has been deserted by her husband, who has proceeded to marry a second time and the other has constantly been a sad victim of domestic violence at the hands of her spouse. That these two ladies be allowed to participate is understandable - senior ladies of my house are not that indecent as to publically insult them by preventing their participation. What takes the cake, I thought, is how their own conscience gave them the permission to carry on that act!
I concluded that they were certainly unaware of the significance of the custom, although, I do believe that avoiding the question why and saving face in public was a more plausible reason for their behaviour.
The observation insn't an original one - it happens everyday. But the nakedness of the act as it unfolded before my eyes made it more impactful for me.