Am I Ready?

Time, it seems, at this point in my life at least, really flies.

As the time draws closer to my big day, some how there are many unanswered questions and it won't be an exaggeration of any sort to say that, at this very point in life, I'm constantly asking myself if I'm really, really ready for what awaits me post May 19.

There are moments in the recent past when I could confidently tell my dear friends that I'm indeed tying the knot soon but now that there's just another 10 days to go before the event becomes a cherished memory, I constantly question myself - is this what I really want?

Where do I go beyond the knot? What changes after you become someone else's legal half? Most pressing of all questions is perhaps the one that has to do with whether or not I'm ready for all that life has to offer after marriage.

Being born in a traditional family like my own and entering the one that I'm about to marry into, makes it no more easier when it comes to figuring out honest and practical answers to the above.

I mean, if you were to turn around and ask me 'aren't you adult enough to know if you are ready or not - to at least know if you are doing the right thing and are indeed settling down with the right person?', I'd say yes, I know I want to get married and I'm sure that the Scandinavian Prince loves me and I love him too.

But then, as certain quarters come together and start imposing their own ideas and virtues on the grounds that all these are age-old traditions that must be upheld at all times, I'm kinda lost.

I'm lost to learn now that some people are all so set to be trouble makers at almost all marriage unions that have taken place in a particular family.

I'm lost because these trouble makers themselves are married - they have been through the mill and know just how daunting the task of getting married is, uniting two families with different principles can be and most of all, they have already had real life experience in living through the stressful moments leading up to a wedding...and yet, after going through all the s**t on their own, why are they so resolved in making things difficult for others?

Its not like they have no careers or other focus issues in life - they do. They in fact have a family to look after, a husband to go home to, parents to care for and equally bitchy mates to mingle with, but no mate, its all not enough.

They must be present at all functions and non-functional gatherings between families and throw their two cents worth and side track everyone.

They go out of their way to make it difficult for the couple in all ways possible, particularly by citing traditions that are no longer practised even by their own families.

What becomes even more painful is the fact that some aged parents even buy the stories from these trouble-making morons on the grounds of 'what's so wrong in ensuring that we follow traditions'.

I mean like, do you know what the hell you are talking about in the first place? Do you know that all you are doing is listening to a brainless woman talking cock while buttering it in the name of tradition?

If I wasn't brought up in a very traditional family environment, I would have stood up and stated my views up front without any censoring, alas, this is an Indian wedding.

Time and again, I'm reminded that I need to be patient and all will end well. Just pray and don't talk back. Hold back your views cause wedding is usually where the elders do all the talking. Don't over react. Don't this and don't that because whatever it is, you are a girl, you are going to be some one's daughter-in-law and so you must play your cards right so that they accept you warmly into their family.

Yeah, so patience must a be a girl's virtue, particularly if you are Indian, bear in mind that you should also master the skill of withstanding stupid relatives from the groom's side - these utterly idiot of relations could be as distant a relative as is the gap between Earth and Mars but when there is a wedding in the family, they rule supreme with their stupid suggestions and moronic values that they try to force down upon a soon to be married girl.

As if the stress of managing a wedding in all broad aspects is not enough, certain unwelcome parties keep throwing their weight around to prove God-knows-what.

So, how am I to assure myself if I am ready for this?