Jai Hind

It literally translates to "Victory to India" or "Long live India". As a salutation, Jai Hind is most commonly used in speeches and communications pertaining patriotism or love towards Inida (Hind). In the last few years television channels have used this for Independence Day themed shows and movies that are advertised with the words. The air was filled with jubilation as Independence Day arrived in Punjab in 2008.

On this day of celebration I found myself celebrating another kind of union; a Sikh wedding. Held in Jatindra Palace in the city of Adampur the marriage was between a sikh girl from Canada and a boy from Punjab. If weddings are known to be merry events, than the epitome of this merriness has to be a Punjabi wedding. The event was an ostentatious celebration, full of various Punjabi dances, a jubilant crowd, countless cases of liquor, chicken and soft drinks that flowed like water during rains. It was amazing how everyone still had space for the main course meal afterwards.

The pace was relentless, the performances memorable (even kids had their groove), the tenor dramatic, and the celebration hit hard and proper. The crowd was generally merry and there was no set dressing attire. A friend of mine from Canada would have laughed her heart out at the colourful dressing style of men, with designs so loud that it even offset the women in the crowd. Overall it was inclusive in the sense that just about anyone could walk in, like I did for I was invited by an invitee who came on behalf of another invitee. There were no questions, but celebrations.