As the "Middle Order" crumbles, the Tailender comes in to bat

Today (November 8th 2008) is a very special day. The occasion being my Elder brother's marriage. Dad has been busy for last 40 days distributing the Wedding Invitations to all his friends and colleagues across the 23 districts of AP. Above all this, he's been monitoring few other arrangements related to Function Hall, Food Menu, Accommodation for guests and Transportation Facilities.

We got up at 6 AM and are ready by 7.15AM to leave from home (to the Function Hall). The same thing happened around 22 months ago when my Eldest brother got married (in Jan 2007). From my perspective, few variables (function hall, caterer, wedding car etc..) remained constant in both the marriages. We reached the function hall by 8 AM.

I was the only jobless guy in the function hall accompanying my brother. Everyone else is busy, either receiving guests or arranging things. The Groom was invited on to the dais first and the priest started marriage rituals. Later the Bride was also invited. Meanwhile Dad was busy inviting the guests, that he couldn't even come down to bless the married couple at the mentioned Muhurtham time. And once the marriage rituals got over, all the guests were invited to come and bless the newly married couple.

Later the guests were routed towards the food counters, to avoid the crowdedness at the dais.
Separate stalls were arranged to split the crowd evenly. There was a huge list of items on the menu. I would definitely wonder if anyone had managed to cover all the varieties of food that was served. In the midst of all this, the bride and the groom were busy with wishes, gifts, photos.

Finally, few of my friends finally landed up at the venue. And now its my turn to get busy.In between, i was called up to the dais to ensure that i don't miss out from any of the important photo frames. And the final call came from my Eldest brother, asking me to join them at lunch. Of course, i was the last to land up at the dining table. But believe me the food was really delicious. esp the fish fry and the mutton curry.

Now that everyone has refueled themselves, the photographer has called for the final photo session. And finally the marriage function ended at 4 PM. All of us returned home exhausted. And the day ended on a very happy note.

But the sad part is, after a solid start my the Family opener (my Eldest brother) for our Bachelors XI team, the middle order (my cousin and elder brother) has crumbled under pressure from the selection committee (Parents). The Tailender of the team (myself) is yet to arrive at the crease. And there's enormous amount of pressure on the tail to make sure that the team doesn't get all out in at least coming 2-3 years.