Memories of a young bride – Jasmine Hatharasinghe

Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER

The Journey
February 1954.  It is early morning and I am on a train, chugging its way to Colombo, the Capital of Ceylon.  I look out of the window and my very first impression of Ceylon in daylight is the purity of the white uniform worn by the school children, the emerald green rice fields and the unhurried movements of the adults going about their daily tasks. Above the roar of the train I can feel the peace and tranquility of the villages we pass through.
It brings a smile to my face and gives me a feeling of happiness and longing for the new life I am about to begin.
I have come hundreds of miles by train and boat to reach Ceylon. I am getting married!  It was sad saying goodbye to my family members in my village in South India  It has been a long journey for my family to get here. This was the first time I had left the shores of my beloved India.  And now, the last leg of my journey before I see my handsome betrothed.
In-laws
It is an amazingly beautiful house that I am taken to.  It has thirteen rooms, high ceilings, several bathrooms and a gloriously big garden.  This is all very opulent for me as my parents’ home in India is very modest.
My mother-in-law is very kind to me and gives me a pair of earrings and gold bangles on arrival and makes my family feel welcomed and comfortable. My mother gives me a piece of advice that her mother gave her when she got married.  “Treat your mother-in-law as if she were your own mother”.  I think this will sit well with me and I hope to pass it on to my children one day.
My father-in-law is a very influential man in the Colombo business circles and extremely wealthy.  He is also a kind and generous man. I have met two brothers-in-law who are very handsome.  The older one is a groomsman in our wedding party.  The younger one is still schooling and a lot of fun to be with.  I am still to meet the baby of the family who is with a wet nurse.
The wedding
Getting ready for the wedding was surreal.  I felt like a princess in a fairytale.  My wedding sari was soft white netting with beautiful embossed flowers and my bra had a whalebone in it.  Never heard of such a concept before that day.  And my veil was metres long, my shoes just perfect.
Our wedding was on 17 February at St Mary’s church, which is opposite the house.  My betrothed stayed at a family friend’s house overnight and walked to church.  I on the other hand was driven across the road in a shiny Mercedes decorated with flowers.
The wedding mass was beautiful and had seventeen priests in attendance.  The flowers in the church were abundant.  The reception was at my in-laws beautiful home with plenty of food and drink.  I remember seeing the claw-footed bathtub in the terraced backyard the night before, filled with apple cider and kept cold with chunks of ice.  Again, this was all new to my family and me.
Married life
I am finally married to my beloved León.  He is so handsome and dashing and loving and caring.
I met León when I was five years old and he seven.  It was during the Easter festival in the village.  I was following my mother however, got lost in the crowd.  My knight in shining armour saw me wandering alone and knew I was lost so he took my hand and led me to my mother.  He said he knew then that he would marry me one day.
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