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दादा-दादी के जमाने में ऐसी होती थी शादी! जब कई दिनों तक रुकते थे बाराती | Full Documentary — Transcript

by 𝗨𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗮𝘀 · 3,346 words · 515 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00The year is 1925; a wedding procession
0:03is about to set out today. It is around
0:055:00 in the morning.
0:07A man steps out of his house and heads
0:09straight to his bullock cart.
0:12First, he cleans the wooden planks of
0:14the bullock cart.
0:16Then, he spins the wheels by hand to
0:17check them. After this, he brings a
0:20large bundle of dry hay from the house.
0:23He opens it and begins spreading a thick
0:25layer of hay across the cart.
0:28After spreading the hay, he lays two
0:31quilts over it. Then he places bedding
0:34on one side and ties bundles of clothes
0:36on the other. Now he goes to the
0:39bullocks. He cleans their backs. He
0:41applies oil to their horns and ties
0:44small bells around their necks. Then he
0:47yokes the bullocks to the cart and
0:49begins tightening the ropes. After
0:51getting everything ready, he moves
0:53toward the next bullock cart. Because
0:55today, not one but many bullock carts
0:57are going in the procession. Meanwhile,
0:59inside the house, the women have been
1:01busy working all night. Puris are being
1:03fried on the stoves. Jaggery and roasted
1:06gram flour are kept on one side. Food is
1:08being packed into large vessels. Then
1:10the food bundles are tied and placed on
1:13the bullock carts one by one. Earthen
1:16pots of water are also being loaded onto
1:18the carts. On the other side, the groom
1:20is getting ready. A turban is tied
1:22around his head. A floral garland is
1:25placed around his neck, and flower veils
1:28are hung before his face. A horse is
1:30also standing ready outside the house.
1:32An elderly man sitting in the courtyard
1:34is counting the names of those going in
1:36the procession. Someone is adjusting
1:38their turban, while someone else is
1:40making space to sit in the cart. The sun
1:42has now risen. The musicians are walking
1:45at the very front. Behind them is the
1:48groom on horseback, and then the bullock
1:50carts begin to move one by one. Some
1:52wedding guests are sitting in the carts
1:54, while some are walking on foot.
1:56The bells around the bullocks 'necks are
1:58ringing, and the wooden wheels are
2:00turning slowly on the dirt path.
2:02By afternoon, the procession stops under
2:05a tree. The bullocks are unyoked from
2:07the carts. They are given water to drink
2:10. The guests open their bundles. They
2:13take out puris and jaggery and sit there
2:16to eat. After a while, the belongings
2:18are packed up again, and the procession
2:20sets off once more.
2:21Slowly, evening falls. Now the bullock
2:24carts are stopped at an empty space near
2:27the road. Some people sit down on the
2:29ground. Some adjust the quilts laid out
2:31on the carts and lie down there. The
2:34bullocks are tied nearby. After a little
2:37while, silence spreads all around. The
2:39next morning, the same bullock carts are
2:42ready again.
2:43The oxen are yoked, bedding is packed,
2:45and the wedding procession sets off on
2:47its journey again.
2:49But over in the bride's village, they
2:51are still waiting for the procession.
2:53Outside the village, some people keep
2:55looking towards the distant path.
2:57Arrangements for the guests to sit and
2:59sleep are being made in the house.
3:02After all, when the procession reached
3:04the girl's village after a journey of
3:06many days, how were they welcomed?
3:09Where did so many wedding guests stay?
3:11Who made arrangements for their food?
3:13And why did the wedding guests stay for
3:15up to seven days in some places?
3:18Today, we will travel back about 100
3:20years to see the entire journey of a
3:22wedding procession from that era.
3:42The year is 1925; a small village in
3:45North India, and the girl's wedding date
3:47has been set.
3:49The priest has indicated the day, and
3:50the elder of the girl's house has
3:52counted the days while sitting in the
3:53courtyard.
3:54Now only a few days are left. That same
3:57evening, the girl's father calls for the
3:59village barber. The barber comes and
4:00sits in the courtyard. They talk for a
4:03while. Then the girl's father hands him
4:06a folded letter. The wedding date is
4:08written in that letter.
4:11But not just the date; the letter also
4:13mentions how many maximum guests the
4:16girl's family can feed according to
4:18their means.
4:20Then the father lists the names of the
4:22groom's village and other relatives to
4:24the barber. Where all does he have to go
4:26? Which house to visit and what to say
4:28to whom. The barber listens to
4:30everything, nods his head, and ties the
4:32letter in his scarf. The next morning,
4:35he leaves the girl's village. He is on
4:37foot with a scarf on his shoulder, in
4:39which the letter is tied. He starts
4:42walking on the dirt path between the
4:44fields. He just keeps moving forward. A
4:46village is left behind. Then empty
4:48fields come along. Some trees appear,
4:50and smoke is seen rising from somewhere
4:52in the distance. Which means the next
4:54village has arrived. He reaches the
4:56village.
4:57Upon entering, the first thing he asks
4:59someone is where their house is.
5:02Someone points out the street with a
5:04hand gesture, and he turns into that
5:06street. Reaching the door, he calls out
5:09. The groom's family recognizes him and
5:11takes him to the courtyard to sit on a
5:14cot. Someone brings water in a metal pot
5:16and places it down. Now he opens the
5:17letter and announces the wedding date.
5:20The faces of the groom's family and
5:21relatives sitting in the courtyard light
5:23up with joy. A child runs to the
5:25neighborhood to deliver the news. Then
5:27the questioning begins. How are the
5:29preparations in the girl’s village? What
5:31is the boy like? How far is the village
5:33?
5:34He answers every question patiently
5:36because he has seen both the boy's and
5:38the girl's homes.
5:40After having some jaggery and water, he
5:42leaves for the next relative's house.
5:44This process continues all day long. At
5:47every door, the same joy, a flurry of
5:49questions, and the same wedding date. By
5:52sunset, the work in one village is
5:54completed. This was not a one-day task.
5:58Traveling on foot from village to
6:00village for days, he would convey the
6:02message to the boy's family and every
6:04relative about how many guests the
6:06girl's side could feed.
6:09Once the message was delivered, the
6:11barber's job was done.
6:13But over in the girl's village, her
6:15father's sleepless nights would begin
6:17right there. Large stone grinding wheels
6:19were set up in the courtyard of the
6:21girl's house. The village women and
6:24relatives would gather to grind wheat,
6:27rice, and lentils day and night. To ease
6:30the fatigue of the work, wedding songs
6:32were sung along the way.
6:34Just imagine, if food has to be cooked
6:36for 100 to 200 people for three or four
6:38days, how many quintals of grain would
6:40have to be ground by hand.
6:42The entire mud house of the girl would
6:45be replastered with mud and cow dung. A
6:47single family could not manage such
6:49grand preparations alone.
6:52This is where the system of the 1920s
6:54began, where an entire village would get
6:57to work for a girl's wedding.
7:00The village potter would work his wheel
7:02day and night, making hundreds of clay
7:04cups and plates because, back then, used
7:07dishes were not reused for meals.
7:09The carpenter would build a wooden
7:11pavilion and platform in the courtyard,
7:13and the washerman would bring clean
7:14bedding for the wedding guests.
7:16But the most surprising thing was that,
7:19in return for all this hard work, none
7:21of them received a single rupee in cash
7:24. Instead of money, they were given raw
7:26grain, some cloth, and leftover wedding
7:29food by the bride's family for their
7:31labor. In that era, for the poor
7:34artisans, this leftover wedding food
7:36served as rations for several days. Now
7:39, everything was ready. The lamps had
7:41been lit. Quintals of wheat, ghee, and
7:43jaggery had been arranged to feed the
7:45wedding guests.
7:47For which the girl's poor father had
7:49even mortgaged his land to the
7:51moneylender.
7:52Meanwhile, miles away in the boy's
7:54village, there was a different kind of
7:56stir. It was time for the wedding
7:58procession to depart. The groom was
7:59dressed in heavy finery. A turban was
8:02tied on his head and a floral veil was
8:04placed on his face. No matter how
8:06intense the heat was, he had to wear it
8:08for hours. The groom sits on a horse,
8:11and behind him stands a long line of
8:13bullock carts ready to go. Dry grass and
8:16quilts are spread out in every bullock
8:18cart. In which the groom's family and
8:20their relatives are seated. The
8:21musicians are walking in the front.
8:24With the jingling of the bells around
8:26the bulls' necks and the sound of wooden
8:28wheels, the wedding procession sets off
8:30toward the girl's village.
8:32This journey was not a 2-4 hour trip
8:34like it is today. There were no paved
8:35roads. There were just dirt, dusty, and
8:38uneven paths passing through the fields
8:41. The bullock carts kept moving slowly.
8:45When the harsh afternoon sun began to
8:47prick, the dirt path started to heat up
8:49, and foam began to come out of the
8:51bulls 'mouths, the procession would be
8:53stopped near a large banyan tree, an old
8:56well, or a pond seen on the outskirts of
8:58some village.
9:00First of all, the bulls would be unyoked
9:02from the carts. They would be taken to a
9:04nearby pond or water would be drawn from
9:06a well to quench their thirst so their
9:08fatigue would fade. Meanwhile, the
9:10wedding guests would lower buckets into
9:12the well to draw cold water. With that
9:13same cold water, dust-covered hands and
9:15faces would be washed. Now, how was food
9:18arranged in the middle of the journey?
9:20For this, rugs would be spread out in
9:21the dense shade of a tree. The bundles
9:24of cloth brought from home would be
9:26opened. These contained homemade dry
9:29puris, jaggery, pickles, and sattu. All
9:32the wedding guests would sit on the
9:34ground there and eat their food. They
9:36would fill their metal pots with that
9:38same fresh, cold well water and drink.
9:41They would rest in the shade for a while
9:43, yoke the bulls back to the carts, and
9:45set off again. As evening set in, the
9:47roads would become deserted. Sometimes
9:50the procession would continue its
9:51journey even in the silence of the night
9:53.
9:54If the fatigue became too much, the
9:56carts would be stopped in a safe and
9:58empty field along the way.
10:01Back then, there were no hotels along
10:03the roads to spend the night.
10:05The guests would curl up among the dry
10:07grass and quilts in those same bullock
10:09carts to relieve their exhaustion.
10:11After completing this exhausting journey
10:13of an entire day and night, the
10:15procession would head back on its path
10:17the next morning.
10:18And now, after traveling for many miles
10:21, the procession was about to reach near
10:23the girl's village. Outside the village
10:26, under a large tree, the girl's father
10:28, some elders of the house, and the
10:29village barber stood with folded hands.
10:32The bullock carts begin to stop one by
10:34one. The girl's father is counting the
10:36carts in his mind.
10:38His heart is pounding, worried that more
10:39guests might have arrived than the
10:41number written in the letter.
10:43Thank God, the number of carts was
10:45almost the same. The bride’s family
10:47steps forward to embrace the groom’s
10:49family. This meeting was known as' Milni
10:51'. But it is very important to
10:53understand one thing here. The wedding
10:55procession did not go directly to the
10:56bride's house. It was not considered
10:58right back then to take so many
11:00strangers inside the house. Therefore,
11:03arrangements for the guests to stay were
11:05made at the village square, school, or a
11:08large open ground. This was called'
11:10Janwasa '. The wedding guests get off
11:12their bullock carts and reach the
11:14Janwasa. Dozens of cots are spread out
11:17there. Tired, the guests sit down on the
11:19cots.
11:20First of all, the village barber and his
11:22family bring jaggery and cold sherbet
11:24for everyone to drink.
11:25Now the real test would begin. Unlike
11:28today, the procession would not return
11:30after eating dinner at night. The entire
11:32crowd from the groom's side would stay
11:34in this same place for three to four
11:35days. In those days, the bride's family
11:37did not even get time to rest or sleep.
11:40They had only one job. To keep the
11:42wedding guests happy at any cost and
11:44ensure no mistakes were made. The
11:46confectioner would set up large vats out
11:48in the open. Dry wood and cow dung cakes
11:50would be burning underneath. In that era
11:52, untouchability and caste
11:54discrimination were very prevalent.
11:55Therefore, the guests could not be
11:58served' kachcha 'food like dal and rice
12:00.' Pakka 'food was prepared for them.
12:02Meaning, pooris and kachoris fried in
12:05pure ghee or oil, jackfruit or pumpkin
12:08curry, and gram flour boondi. Food was
12:10served twice a day in hundreds of
12:12earthen cups and leaf plates. The status
12:15of the groom's side was so high that the
12:16villagers of the bride's side would walk
12:18with their heads bowed before them.
12:20If even by mistake there was a shortage
12:23of fodder for the bulls, if a guest did
12:25not find a sheet on his cot, or if any
12:27relative's ego was hurt while serving
12:30food, it would lead to an immediate
12:32uproar.
12:33At the slightest provocation, the
12:34groom's side would threaten that they
12:36were leaving with the procession without
12:37the bride.
12:39In those days, if a wedding procession
12:40returned from someone's door, it was
12:42equivalent to dying while still alive
12:44for the bride's family. The honor of
12:46their generations would be reduced to
12:48dust.
12:49But as the night deepens, all the
12:51activity shifts toward the courtyard of
12:53the bride's house.
12:54In the courtyard, a wooden pavilion
12:56built by a carpenter is decorated. In
12:58the yellow light of lanterns and oil
13:00lamps, the groom arrives in the
13:02courtyard at midnight. In the silence of
13:04the night, the priest's Sanskrit mantras
13:06begin to echo. There is a smoldering
13:08fire in the center. The groom sits in
13:11front of that fire for hours in heavy
13:13clothes and a headgear. The smoke from
13:16the sacred fire stings his eyes. He
13:17sweats profusely, but he is forbidden
13:19from getting up.
13:21But where was the bride for whom all
13:23this elaborate setup was going on
13:24outside?
13:25Actually, she was brought to the
13:27pavilion only at the time of the wedding
13:28rounds.
13:29For the rest of the three or four days,
13:31she was told to stay in the darkest room
13:33inside the house.
13:35Her body would be covered in turmeric.
13:37She would sit scared and huddled in a
13:39corner. The wedding rounds take place in
13:41the pavilion. Vermilion is applied to
13:42her hair parting. The wedding is
13:44complete. But now comes the part that
13:47will surprise people of today the most.
13:49Even after the wedding was complete, the
13:51bride's real departure did not happen
13:54that day.
13:55In that era, girls were 15 years old or
13:57even younger.
13:59Therefore, after the wedding, the girl
14:01would go to her in-laws for just one
14:02night to complete the ritual and return
14:04to her parents' home the very next day.
14:06Her real departure, meaning moving to
14:09her husband's home forever, happened
14:11years later when she grew up. In North
14:14India, this was called Gauna. Everything
14:17had been going on like this for
14:18centuries.
14:19Matches were being arranged, poor
14:21farmers were taking loans, and the Gauna
14:23of girls was being decided in childhood
14:25itself.
14:26But then came the year 1929.
14:29The British government passed a law in
14:32India that shook the roots of this
14:34entire system.
14:35The name of this law was the Sarda Act,
14:37the Child Marriage Restraint Act.
14:40The government's objective was to ban
14:42the marriage of girls under 14 years of
14:45age. The law was enacted.
14:47But on the ground, this law created such
14:50a terrible panic that it put the entire
14:52country in fear.
14:54A rule was made that marrying a girl
14:57under 14 and a boy under 18 would now be
15:00a crime.
15:02The government thought that this law
15:04would end the pain of child marriage
15:06forever. But the British had made a huge
15:09mistake. The law was passed in September
15:121929, but the date for its
15:14implementation was set for April 1, 1930
15:17, meaning a full 6-month gap was left
15:19before the law came into effect.
15:23These were the very 6 months that
15:24changed the face of all of India. The
15:27news spread like wildfire from village
15:29to village and city to city.
15:31People felt that the British were
15:33forcibly entering their religion, their
15:35customs, and their homes. They feared
15:37that after April 1st, they would not be
15:40able to marry off their daughters.
15:43They feared the police would arrest them
15:44, and thus began the most terrifying
15:46marriage rush in history.
15:48People did not want to let that April
15:511st deadline pass at any cost. Suddenly
15:53, a massive number of weddings began
15:55taking place across the country. Neither
15:56auspicious timings nor horoscopes were
15:58considered. Barbers began running around
16:00day and night. Girls aged 10 or 12 were
16:02married off, but the fear was so intense
16:05that people even placed innocent 3-to 4
16:08-year-old girls under the wedding canopy
16:11overnight. In 1931, when British
16:13officers conducted the census of all
16:16India, the figures that emerged were so
16:18alarming that Census Commissioner J. H.
16:20Hutton was himself stunned. Due to this
16:23haste, the average age of marriage
16:25across India suddenly plummeted.
16:28The data testified that there was a
16:30terrifying 18 to 25%surge in the
16:32marriages of girls under just 10 years
16:35of age.
16:37The law was made to protect children,
16:38but because of the fear of that law,
16:40millions of children were married off at
16:42a young age, and the poor farmers paid
16:44the heaviest price for this fear.
16:47Imagine a time when it took months to
16:49arrange quintals of grain and hundreds
16:51of guests for a single wedding.
16:54In that era, the fear of the Sharda Act
16:56forced farmers to conduct weddings
16:58within just a few weeks. How could
17:00arrangements be made so quickly?
17:02Obviously, reckless loans were taken
17:04overnight.
17:06If we look at the 1921 data, the monthly
17:09earnings of a Bombay mill worker were
17:11only ₹ 33, and the earnings of a village
17:14farm laborer were even lower than that.
17:17But the minimum cost of a modest wedding
17:20at that time used to be between ₹ 150
17:23and ₹ 300. That is, more than a
17:25laborer's entire annual income. Now,
17:28since no poor farmer or laborer had that
17:31much cash on hand. Therefore, he went
17:33straight to the village moneylender.
17:35This loan taken from the moneylender was
17:38no ordinary loan. In those days, loans
17:41taken for weddings were often available
17:43at 75%annual interest.
17:45In some cases, it even went up to 150%.
17:49Do you know what the result of this 75%
17:51interest was? The result was that
17:53farmers in states like Punjab and Bengal
17:56were buried under millions of rupees in
17:58debt.
18:00The 1929 Banking Enquiry Committee
18:02report reveals that farmers in Punjab
18:04alone were burdened with a staggering
18:06debt of ₹ 177 crores at the time, while
18:09Bengal's farmers owed nearly 100 crores
18:11, with a significant portion of this
18:13debt taken solely for weddings and
18:15ostentatious displays.
18:18A poor farmer would mortgage his small
18:20plot of land, one bad harvest would lead
18:22to compound interest piling up, and
18:24within a few years, he would lose his
18:26ancestral land forever.
18:29So, this was the true and grim picture
18:31of Indian weddings in the 1920s, which
18:33remained buried somewhere in the pages
18:36of history and old government documents
18:38.
18:39If you liked this video, be sure to
18:41share it with your family and friends.
18:45Tell us in the comments below if you
18:47have ever heard stories from your
18:48grandparents about the old-fashioned
18:50wedding processions on bullock carts or
18:52the three-day-long wedding stays.

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This page contains the full transcript of दादा-दादी के जमाने में ऐसी होती थी शादी! जब कई दिनों तक रुकते थे बाराती | Full Documentary by 𝗨𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗮𝘀, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,346 words across 515 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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