(This is a story of how an Asian wedding ritual turned out to be embarrassing situation for the groom for lifetime)
So finally it was the D day, my wedding day. I was about to get married in a few hours to the love of my life. We had dated for a few years during and after college, it was a dream turning true to get married to her.
Now in our culture, we have this custom that the groom's brother-in-law( sister's husband) and friends dress him on the wedding day. Generally it's a casual ritual wherein they make the groom wear the wedding suit or tie, get some photos clicked and that's it. I never knew such a ritual would turn out so differently for me.
I have a very fun equation with my brother-in-law. He is few years older than me but we always keep on joking and chilling out with each other. That day he insisted that he wants do the ritual sincerely and would dress me from the start. Initially I and others did not understand what he meant by this. He said he would dress me completely i.e. he would make me wear all articles of clothing including the inner wear. That I should get naked in front of him and then he would dress me from there. Initially we thought he was joking but then he did not relent. He said that's the only way he would do this ritual else he won't do.
When everyone realised that he would not budge, then my relatives came to try to convince me. They said to me that it's not a big deal. It would hardly take 2-3 mins, just appear in a towel, he would make me wear the underwear and no one would be in the room then. My friends would come back to my room after I got my undergarments on. We were already getting late and this ritual is considered a good luck charm to married life.
When I realised that nothing is gonna move so I decided to agree reluctantly. I put some conditions like everyone will be out of room except me and him. No photo will be clicked till I have my innerwear. And no one else should get to know of this ever.
My brother-in-law agreed to conditions except that there will be atleast one photo clicked while he is making me wear the underwear. I tried to convince him, he did not agree. Then we decided that we would get just one photo clicked but from an angle that my intimate parts would be hidden or not shown. I knew I was taking a huge risk but had no other way.
Finally I came out of the shower in a towel. Only he and a cameraman were in the room. He was giving some instructions to him when I came in. The camera man got into one side. I came close to bed where my BIL was standing and my clothes were lying on the bed.
I came to him and was standing. My heart was beating fast. He was having that winning smile as he got what he wanted. He came to me, put his hands over my towel and asked me if I was ready. I said certainly I am not. I tried for the last time and asked him if it's really necessary to do so. He said it would be a fun memory for lifetime. Then I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and asked him to do it in hurry. He then took my towel off in a whisker and threw it away.