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`Value your guests'

K. Raghuram feels guests at a wedding deserve better treatment

I am invariably at a loss when I attend weddings. I spare no effort to reach the venue in time, on occasion even travelling overnight by train. I wonder whether this is naïvete on my part! But when I get there, nobody seems to care that I am around. Apparently many of the guests, including the host, do not take the time mentioned in the invitation card too seriously. I hang around, waiting for the function to start, making conversation with people, even strangers. I wait for hours but nobody gives me a reason for the delay. Maybe you are expected to arrive late!

These days, weddings are about glitz and dazzle. They're big melas. But there is none to receive you at the entrance. Nobody shows you the way to the lunch hall. You are supposed to find it on your own.

How should a guest be treated? He should be welcomed and attention lavished upon him. Instead, he seems to be virtually non-existent.

Aren't weddings personal functions? We shifted the celebration from our homes to the halls because space is a constraint. But, today, in the vastness of the halls, the guests are being missed out. There is no personal touch. I don't mind being invited through email or over the phone. At least, somebody has remembered to invite me, and yes, it saves time. But citing lack of time as a reason for not taking care of your guests at a function is no excuse.

Next time you invite someone for a function, the least you can do is to appreciate his or her effort at being there.

As told to ASHA MENON

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