In the pre-war days, village weddings were prepared for over several months as paddy had to be ground into rice at home by human hands, appalam was home-made. All the articles of food were to be procured locally, some grown on one's own fields. It was a labour of prolonged agony. Normally families live together in work as well as Spirit. On an occasion like wedding, all the relatives come to one's help. Though the work remains formidable, several hands share it, lightening it for the individual. There are unfortunate individuals isolated from the community either by poverty or cantankerous temperament. To them the labour was even more onerous, as they had to do all the work themselves with little help.
This situation changed after the war, especially after the 70's and 80's. The 9 day pre-war wedding function over the decades got abridged to one day. The venue got shifted from the village to the towns. Marriage Halls sprang up like cinema theatres. Trade and commerce organised themselves into specialised services to take care of decorations, cooking, serving, Nadaswaram, etc. Now all that one has to do is to pay for these services and receive the benefit. A Himalayan labour has become a child's play.
There are highly placed wealthy persons. When their daughters are to be married, money is never an issue. Should a daughter's wedding be fixed, his relatives and friends and his company staff are waiting for the privilege of rendering that service to him, as an alliance with his family is a privilege. The rich man's part is only to give his assent.
Sakthi, Viryam, Deiva Prakriti, and Faith can be compared to the lone individual, the village function, the marriage in the town Kalyana Mandapam and the wedding of an affluent influential person of eminence.
How are we to move along these lines in our daily work?