top of page

Feasts

​
 
There were two important feasts connected with marriage. The first one was the Seerani, offered by the bride’s family. Biriyani and Seero (a sweet dish made with sooji in ghee garnished with fried cashew nuts, pista, badam and resins) were mandatory. The feast derived its name Seerani from the Seero served as dessert. Because the marriages took the whole night, Seerani was not offered immediately after the Nikah. Normally it would be on the following day. If the bridegroom’s party had come from an outstation, then the Raja would be delayed until after the Seerani. This was also an occasion for the declaration and display of Pachchi, which would be laid out before the relatives of both sides. The items would be openly declared with the names of the contributors. No special display or mention was generally needed of the Pedo as the girl would be already wearing them. After displaying, the Mother-in-law took charge of the Pachchi.
​
The other feast was the Valeemo, offered by the bridegroom’s family at their place after the party had returned to their residence. Though primarily meant for the friends and relatives of the bridegroom, people from the bride’s household would also be invited. There was no hard and fast rule about the menu. But Jad'dho (Sweet Rice coloured and flavoured with Zafran (Suffon) and garnished with almonds, pistacheos and resins ) was a usual delicacy added as dessert. Seerani preceded Valeemo.
​
Because both the feasts were on days subsequent to the marriage the hosts had the advantage of deciding on selective invitation. Two different modes were in vogue – Chadee Dawat and Saglee Dawat. Chadee Dawat meant that only one person from each house was expected to attend, while Saglee Dawat was for the entire household. Where certain families were invited personally by a host family member it was Sagleepatthee. Invitations by Dhami was deemed to be Chadi unless specified as Saglee. It was also a custom for the Dhami to go round the Mohalla announcing that the food was ready and asking people to proceed to dine, yelling out as he would walk around, ”Hallo Bawa Khawethe”.
​
Like at Nikah and other related functions Cutchi Memons,especially women, were quite unforgiving in the matter of  dinner protocols, even the slightest breach of which was treated as gross insult. The protocol dictated that at seerani, the bride groom should be attended to by the bride's brother and in his absence by a near relative in the family, right from the point of ushering him to his special seat and washing his hands, before food and after food, serving the food in the proper order taking special care to see that the service didn't appear casual.

 It was the general practice to bring water and a receptacle to the dining space to wash the hands of the bridegroom and others. The father, grand parents, uncles and the other brothers -in-laws and close relatives must be specially invited and ushered to join the bridegoom for food. It was incumbent on the bride's father to look after the bridegroom's father and elders. Similarly it was the duty of the bride's mother to take care of the bridegroom's mother and senior ladies. As a rule, the bride, her mother-in-law  and all the relatives shall be seated together Any lapses could even result in the entire barat abandoning the meal in the middle. Interestingly no such rigid formalities were observed or courtesies reciprocated at the Valeema, beyond respectful and courteous behaviour.

Chelam.jpg
bottom of page