-Brian Mendonça
Wherever you go
I shall go
Wherever you live
There shall I live
Your people will be
My people
And your God
Will be my God too.
December is wedding season in Goa. Apart from people in
Goa getting married in Goa, Goa seems to be the wedding destination for a lot
of people outside Goa as well. Halls and venues are booked sometimes a year in
advance. The wedding season stretches into January.
It takes a lot to organize a wedding away from the
place of residence. Guests are sometimes ferried across to Goa and
accommodation is provided as well. It’s
all worth it for the satisfaction of saying ‘I do’ in Goa.
In this case, the banns (notices) of marriage are read
in the parish of the bridegroom, the parish of the bride and the parish where
the wedding is actually taking place.
In our case it was read in Delhi, Goa and Mumbai. On
one Sunday the banns were read in all three places on the same day. It was an
awesome feeling, because it announced not only the coming together of two individuals,
but the amalgamation of three cities.
When my sister asked my fiancée in Mumbai, ‘Aren’t you nervous
about going to Delhi?,’ Queenie replied without batting an eyelid, ‘It’s the
person that matters, not the place.’
December is also the time when weddings are held
outside Goa. Sometimes one is torn between two events happening at the same
time. Getting tickets to travel is also a daunting exercise. Apart from the
expense involved.
The ‘Song of Ruth’ is a favourite song which is sung at
Catholic weddings. It is from the Book of Ruth in the Bible. It was written
around the fourth century before Christ. Ruth and Orpah were the daughters-in-law
of Naomi. They were Moabites. They were married to the sons of Naomi, i.e.
Mahlon and Chilion who died after settling in Moab. Ruth and Elimelech, the
husband of Naomi, had come to Moab from Bethlehem in Judah as there was a
famine there.
In due time, Moab was also struck by famine. Naomi
decided to go back to Judah from Moab. But she requested her daughters-in-law
not to accompany her since they were Moabites. Orpah does as she is bidden, but
Ruth replies in the words of the song quoted above.
This
was how Naomi returned from Moab with her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. They
arrived in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was just beginning. (Ruth
1: 22)
In ‘Fields of Gold’ (1993) Sting sings of the fields of
barley which look like gold as they sway ecstatically. The scene reminds the
singer of his/her loved one who is no longer present and of the moments they
shared.
Ruth later meets Boaz, of the same clan of her
father-in-law Elimelech. He redeems her and marries her. They have a son named
Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. Jesus
Christ is referred to as the son of David.
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Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, Goa on Sunday, 8 December 2019. Pix courtesy Amazon. Love song of Ruth and Boaz.
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