J for Juta Churai
Of all the fun customs in a wedding, the one which clearly steals the shoe..errrrr I meant steals the show is Juta Churai. Set at just the right time when the wedding ceremony is happening under the "Mandap", this is a perfect filler item to add a little excitement to the otherwise- starting-to get-tiring night full of "Mantras" and serious wedding rituals.
Basically for this custom, the siblings of the bride are entrusted with a serious mission of stealing and hiding the shoes of the groom. The groom is caught vulnerable at the opportune time when he has to sit in the mandap barefooted to start the wedding ceremony. Right at that time, his shoes are taken away from him right under his nose. To get those shoes back, which by now, are not just his shoes but his pride as well, he has to beg, threat or bribe his sister in laws.
The activity pumps up energy even in the friends of the groom, who are trying to guard the shoes or get them back from the not-so easy-to-fool sisters of the bride. In all my Juta Churai memories I have till now, the best is when I had stolen the shoes in my cousin's wedding. It was a fight to the finish, and the groom's cousins and friends left no stone unturned to reclaim those shoes from us. When nothing worked, as a last resort they stole the footwear of all the bride's sisters, as a barter bargain for the groom's shoes. Ofcourse that didn't work either and finally we did manage to get what we wanted from the groom. Our demand was simple .. we did not take money (which usually is the custom) but instead asked our otherwise shy "Jijaji" (groom) to sing a song in praise of all his sister in laws.
Juta Churai is so famous that even Bollywood has banked on its popularity. Have a look at this sing from Ham Aapke Hain Kaun
I feel this custom would have started in order to bring the two families closer. Over the time, people have started taking this ritual too seriously, and instead of bringing people closer, it ends up in a tussle. But of-course that is only momentary, and later on people do look back at it with fond memories.
I know what you mean, I was at a wedding last month and the kids hiding the shoes got into a fight with the groom's friends and cousins. Rituals have become far too materialistic now and spoils the fun at the weddings.
ReplyDeleteYes I see what you write here...true sometimes we get carried away with emotions...:)
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One of my favorite rituals!!! As you said rituals are however becoming more of a reason to fight!! :P :D
ReplyDelete~S(t)ri
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u know i came to know of this custome onlt after watching Hum Aapke hein kaun.. am loving this series of urs
ReplyDeleteAll the TV serials that show weddings make a big deal of the juta churai! :D While some customs sound crazy, in the atmosphere of the wedding, they become full fun!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Madhuri ’s joote do paise lo song :) its another fun ritual.
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me of the last few family weddings that I attended. It is so much fun to see the secret meetings to discuss strategies and plans, the spying part and silent conversations... some fun this ceremony is :D
ReplyDeleteYou described well ...shoe stealing as the filler in between the wedding activities and a way of bringing two families together...interesting
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and description...I think that song did really well for this particular ritual :)
ReplyDeleteOne beautiful custom....
ReplyDeleteSadly taken a materialistic tone...
If you ever visit my home, you will definitely hear the story my husband likes to tell about this custom...the way it happened at our wedding. I bet you would have never heard something like that, I mean about the way the whole thing took place, one of a kind really....well, let me keep the mystery till we meet :)
ReplyDeleteThis was another fun post :)
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i am curious..calls for a post be loo
DeleteI have the funniest story of this shoe stealing ritual. In our wedding, it was decided by my cousin brothers that when M (my hubby) enters the wedding area, they'll carry him till the stage. So there my hubby is sitting on the shoulders of two brothers, another two supporting his leg, and along come my sneaky youngest bro (he was in class 7th then) and takes off his shoes right then! For our jaimal/garlanding M had to borrow someone else's shoes on stage!! :D
ReplyDeleteHow crazy! I bet that causes some problems! ♥
ReplyDeletewhat an interesting custom. One of the nicest things about this a to z challenge is discovering and learning new things, and meeting new people across the world. Hope you enjoy the rest of the challenge and bonjour from France http://detoutcoeurlimousin.blogspot.fr/2014/04/kindness-be-kind-whenever-possible-it.html
ReplyDeleteTrue that sometimes what should be fun is taken too seriously. entertaining song.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun tradition! :D I'm really enjoying these glimpses into Indian wedding rituals.
ReplyDeletethis part is always fun :D in our tradition, this juta churai was not done! until recently when we cousins decided to try it out, thanks bollywood for d inspiration, n it was so much fun :D
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I wonder what it would be like for some of the movies in the USA to be converted to a Bollywood cast! I would like to see Shakespeare performed as a Bollywood movie!
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