Jewish Wedding in Bombay

 Jewish Wedding in Bombay by Nissim Ezekiel (Poem)

Nissim Ezekiel is one of the greatest Indian English poets. His poems have the realistic essence of Indianness. He is profoundly aware of Indian social problems. His poems are generally ironic and light-veined. Nissim Ezekiel was born on December 16, 1924 in Mumbai in the Bene-Israel family. Both his parents were devoted to education. His father Moses was a professor of Botany and Zoology at Wilson college. His mother Diana was a school teacher.

Nissim Ezekiel also worked as a professor of English at Mithibai College and also at the University of Leeds. His poetry is philosophical, ironic and realistic.

The brothers of the bride stole the shoe of the bride- groom and hid it. They made him pay the money to get back the stolen shoe. The game delighted the children of the neighbours. The bridegroom felt like a reluctant bride-groom. He consoled himself by saying that "Don't mind it happens in such events".

Nissim as a bridegroom was a modern man. He did not want dowry. His in-laws were also modern. The bride's father asked him how much jewellery he had expected. The bride groom replied," I don't know." The bride's father laughed it off.

There was no brass band outside the synagogue. There were a chanting procession and some fitaeople had skull-caps and felt hats on their heads. Some people had decorated shawls. There was the breaking of the glass and the congregation clapped. It symbolized the fact that they were married according to Mosaic Law. The poet says, 

"Mostly, we were

amused and so were others. who 

knows how much belief

we had ?

The poet says that rituals are not beliefs. They are the imposed traditions in all communities whether one believes in them or not. Some people ate beef saying that it was cheaper. Some even violated the tradition by eating pork. The Sabbath was for betting, swearing and drinking.

There was nothing extravagant. Everything was normal and restricted. The bridegroom said that orthodox people knew where to draw the line. He claimed that he was modern and his mother called herself "Progressive". The wedding ceremony ended and all the people dispersed. The newly married couple went to the famous photographic studio of Lobo and Fernandes for a photo-shoot. 

After returning home the couple lay on a floor-mattress in the kitchen of the wife's apartment. It was part of the night. She said,'' Let's do it darling, let's do it". Then they did it. Nissim Ezekiel refers to the first night sex of the couple in a unique way.

Finally, the poet says that ten years passed before she asked her husband that she was quite disappointed by his sexual act. She asked - "Is it ?". says that after he returned from London, he was out of practice. He probably suffered from erectile dysfunction or frigidity.

For the first time, there was a quarrel between the couple.

"She said why did

You take my virginity from me?"

The poet says that he would have gladly returned it if possible. However, he did not find its solution from any book he had read.

The poet describes the wedding ceremony of a Jewish Wedding with jingling bells, costumes, food, wine, photography and first night breaking of the bride's virginity. Love and love-making are two different things. Lost love has been suggested in a very humorous and ironic manner.

It is a faded romance which usually takes place in married life. The poem has a theme of customary wedding ceremony, belief and actual practice, love and love-making. At the end, the poet's wife asks him why he violated her virginity as he could not satisfy her sexual desire in a potent manner. The poet also says that if he could he would have returned her virginity intact, but no books in the World offered the solution.