Life
By Vinu Ilakkuvan
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July 13, 2006
"Gettimelam, Gettimelam!"
With the much-awaited cue, the musicians played the traditional wedding tune, and my cousin took the kaluthooru (wedding necklace) and tied its sacred cord with three knots, officially making the bride my Anni (a term meaning "elder brother's wife").
The three knots are said to symbolize the following: the first knot is of relationship, the second knot gives the bride and groom rights over each other, and the third knot tells the world they are married.
I stood there in my new purple sari, matching the ones my cousins wore, taking delight in all the special symbolic rituals that come along with a traditional South Indian wedding.