Giving Away My Daughter

This is from a father's perspective

She looked stunning, just like her mother. Heavily bordered Kanjeevaram sari, chunky gold ornaments, aromatic jasmine strings adorning her lustrous braid and her cherubic smile enhanced her beauty. It’s my daughter’s wedding today. Caught in turmoil of emotions, my heart felt like lead. My eyes brimmed with tears…tears of joy??...no…they were tears of contentment. She noticed them. I couldn’t escape her questioning eyes. I brushed away the tears and blamed the musky smoke. But she knew the reason and gave an assuring smile.

“Papa, I would never leave u”, she had said when I teasingly remarked that Arun(her fiancee) was waiting.Daughters grow up so fast. I still remember the day when I was handed this little bundle of joy. Deep blue eyes, I affectionately named her Neelakshi. Everything she did amused me. From a naughty toddler to confused adolescent, from Daddy’s little girl to responsible daughter, her growing years were so delightful. Caring daughter, wonderful cook, established writer and an efficient engineer, she is all rolled in one and I am sure she would make a superb wife too. The pride, the satisfaction, the elation bought back my surging tears.

Today, I am giving her away. New place, new relatives and mounting apprehensions, I know my daughter would handle them tactfully. I would miss her.Her absence would haunt me now.

Deep in her childhood memories, I was enjoying the nostalgic feel when suddenly my thoughts were disrupted by the priest chanting… “mangalyam tantunanena mama jivana hethuna kanthe: badhnami subhage! sanjiva sarada: satam ” . Amidst the rhythmic mela-thalam of drums and showers of akshadai, my daughter made a grand entry into the connubial phase. My emotions fiddled between anxieties to thrill, just like the first day of her school when I left her in the classroom among strangers. Then she was a tot, now a woman but she would always remain her Daddy’s little girl!