Ok this is weird. ‘Cause this is personal.
Dec 29, 2016 was the date on which Sheryl & Sachin got married in a traditional Marthoma Christian ceremony in Thiruvalla, Kerala. It was a beautiful wedding, especially because no one was in a hurry. You see, Christian weddings don’t really have a muhurat/muhurtham. So there isn’t any need to hurry things up. But, at every Malayalee Christian wedding there will be this one person who’ll keep nudging you to hurry things up, unnecessarily. Having seen a decent number of traditional Malayalee Christian ceremonies (and having gotten married in one), I can safely say it’s close to impossible to get married without having someone rushing you, unnecessarily. I was relieved cause on Dec 29, 2016 no one was in a hurry. But then, I was wrong.
After finishing the wedding, I packed my bags and started the three hour drive to Kochi airport. I was all kicked about attending my college senior Ryan’s wedding in Mumbai, next day. Fortunately for me, I was travelling with Sheryl’s brother who happened to be a Doctor. One hour into the journey, around 730 PM, I got a call from my 36-week-pregnant wife Rini. She was only due on Jan 18, 2017 and had gone in for a regular checkup on Dec 29, 2016. She complained of some pain and doctors advised her to spend the night under observation at the hospital. I discussed this with Sheryl’s brother and he said - “If I were you, I’d cancel the trip and head straight to the hospital”. Though a little reluctant, I decided to cancel my Mumbai trip. At 1015 PM I had just entered Kochi city limits when I got a call from Rini’s mom saying - “Rini delivered! It’s a girl!” I remember not being able to believe it. After all, I had spoken to Rini just 2.5 hours ago and everything was normal. How could she go into labour and deliver so quickly? I kind of shouted at my MIL asking her how it’s even possible. Apparently her labour lasted only for 90 minutes, which is rare and a blessing for everyone. Part of me was sad that I wasn’t next to Rini during the delivery, but I was over the moon ‘cause we had a baby girl! I wanted a girl and we had only thought of Ruth as a name. And in all honesty, I was relieved that we were not required to think of a baby boy’s name! Thank God for that! So yeah, on Sheryl’s and Sachin’s wedding day, none of their family & friends were in a hurry. But a little girl was.
Moral Of The Story: At every Malayalee Christian wedding, there’ll always be one Mallu who’ll defy logic, law and science to hurry things up. Even if it means he/she has to take birth sooner :)
Needless to say, I’ll never forget this wedding :) Will probably be retelling this story even after I turn 70 in 2056! :)
Photography: Elvin Jacob
Venue: Maramon Marthoma Church, Thiruvalla
Special Thanks: Jiya Benni & Nidhin Stanley
”When my friends, who got married a year before I did, showed me the photographs of their wedding reception, I really loved it. I loved seeing the small moments captured on camera. That’s the kind of photography Sachin and I wanted for our wedding.
When we began corresponding with Elvin, we were so at ease talking to him. He came the evening before the wedding, there was a prayer at my home. He interacted wonderfully with my family and friends. On the big day, he was at my place at 5 AM and captured lovely moments of my makeup and my interaction with my mom. He even got my goofiness on camera! It didn’t feel awkward at all. I felt a friend was clicking my photos.
A Kerala Christian Wedding doesn’t have a lot of ceremonies or functions going on but through Elvin’s lens, every moment seemed special. Some of the photos we loved among others were - Sachin signing 'I Agree' in the register, my dad hugging me, our entire family laughing at the reception stage and me bawling my eyes out when my parents took my hand to place it in my in laws’ hands. Post that, we had a small couple shoot. Both of us were a bit nervous during the shoot but Elvin managed to capture all the moments where we were truly smiling and not faking it. That was great!
When we got the final work product, it was amazing! It’s an album we would treasure always!” -Sheryl & Sachin
