Wazas get going as marriage season arrives in Valley

M Aamir Khan

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Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 23

Last September, during floods, they had gone out of business. But now, Valley’s famed wedding chefs, wazas, are booked for the whole year. As the wedding season is about to pick up, getting an appointment with wazas, especially those who remain in high demand, is next to impossible.

Love for ‘wazwan’

Despite calls from various quarters to hold austere weddings and avoid the ‘wazwaan extravagance’, the love for ‘wazwan’ remains. In fact, almost every year, eaters see a new dish on their plate during marriages, especially during ‘baraat’ to welcome the groom.

The local chefs, most of whom are based in downtown Srinagar, are famous for cooking ‘wazwan’ – a range of gastronomical delights consisting of at least 15 dishes, mainly of mutton and chicken, served for lunch and dinner on weddings. The food is cooked by a team of at least six to eight wazas under a tent erected at the place of wedding.

Advance booking

Abdul Aziz, famous as ‘shaitan waza’, is known for his scrumptious cooking. He said bookings had started six months ago and now they had no available dates till October.

“After the floods, most of the people cancelled marriages or held the same without pomp. We suffered huge losses but now we are looking forward to a good season,” he said.

Wedding season in the Valley starts after mid April and lasts till October end. This year, there will be a break in June-July during the fasting month of Ramadan, when Muslims usually do not solemnize marriages. In winters too, generally, no marriages take place.

Besides weddings, wazas are also in demand when a Haji throws a feast before embarking on the annual pilgrimage.

‘Experience’ counts here

While the locals are aware of the high demand of wazas, without whom a typical Kashmiri wedding is impossible, they make bookings accordingly.

Ghulam Mohammad, whose niece is getting married in June, said he had booked ‘shaitan waza’ in December. “Only the experienced can ensure a smooth wedding here. I was able to book the dates for the weekend in June as I contacted him in December. Later, it is difficult to get dates even during normal week days,” he said.

Praying for peace

Whenever an agitation erupts or a situation like that of last year’s floods arises, wazas are among the worst hit. Their business was affected the most during the 2008 Amarnath land row agitation, the violent protests in the wake of 2009 infamous Shopian incident and during the 2010 summer unrest.

Protests led to large-scale cancellation of wedding ceremonies. And functions of most of the weddings, which were solemnised during the period, were held in a simple manner without ‘wazwan’ preparations.

“We may be booked but are hoping that peace prevails. Almost every year we face a situation when feasts get cancelled on a large scale,” said Fayaz Ahmad, another waza.