Their wedding, my joy

Nonika Singh

LIKE many presumptuous Indians, my husband too doesn’t care much about celebs and their personal private lives. So as the world is in a tizzy over Virushka wedding, he can’t quite fathom what the fuss is all about. 

Sure, as a keen sports enthusiast, he probably knows more about Virat Kohli’s sporting achievements than those going ga ga over his good looks and his Italian wedding. However, the Indian cricket captain’s high-profile wedding to the beautiful and talented Anushka Sharma leaves him absolutely cold. I, however, can’t quite get over the power couple. Trivia, such as how Kohli spent three months hunting for the perfect ring for Anushka, which cost a whopping Rs 1 crore, fascinates me no end. I devour every detail of her Sabyasachi lehenga and saris, mentally taking note of what to wear next time on a wedding as I soak in the ravishing gulkand-burgundy velvet sari she wore for her engagement. 

My husband in the meanwhile sends out stern replies to his fellow ‘appers’. Those enthusiastically sharing Virushka’s wedding pictures on his friends’ WhatsApp group get a serious dressing down from him. His sardonic refrain to his friends is; are they your relatives? The insinuation is implicit and rather blunt — why go bananas over strangers’ shaadi, in short begaani shaadi mein..? I try to engage him in a verbal duel, which all married men know, no husband has ever won, yet his scepticism sets me thinking. 

What makes a majority of us lesser-mortals rejoice at the evident happiness of a couple far removed from the humdrum of our lives, be it the new royal couple in the UK, or the cricket royalty back home? I find the smile on their faces contagious. Virat’s face crinkling with laughter as he steps back in jest for the jaimala function has me smiling thousands of kilometres away. 

To be honest, as a journalist ‘privileged’ enough to have a ringside view of stars, I am not exactly star-struck like millions are. So, what is it about Virushka that gladdens me enough to give a shout out? A colleague says that it’s because they were both single, something that happens in the galaxy of rich and famous only seldom. Indeed, as most celebrities are either coming from or going to splitsville, this one seems like a perfect rab ne bana di jodi right here on mother earth. As I am tempted to say ‘touchwood’ to the lovely couple looking oh-so-radiant in love… can I see my other half frowning? But to frown and grimace we have reasons galore anyway. In a world teeming with desperados and cynics, we could certainly do with a feel good, good old dose of real-life romance. Thank you, Viruskha for providing us the welcome and necessary distraction from the ugly realities of life. 

Even the spiteful trollers seem to be in a rather generous mood. Apart from pointing out Kohli’s mismatched grey socks, most jokes doing the rounds are rather amiable and in good spirit. For once, the virulent tribe too has got its sense of humour back, and right. Will my husband too shed his impervious thick skin? Now that is a million-dollar question!