I write stories sometimes from my life so that one day my grandchildren or great grandchildren would have a point of reference of what life was like in my time. I share this one to give thanks to Mona and Lee.


I was 22 years of age and was about to get married. I was a village girl and not very stylish and did not know much about putting on make-up or hair styling. It was probably the same for most of the girls in the village. People in the village had lots of children and worked very hard to bring them up.
I worked at a bank and remember taking out a small loan to help with wedding expenses. I remember accompanying my mom to shop for sarees in the town of San Fernando. There were not a lot of Indian stores but we had managed to get a beautiful red sari at a reasonable price and some costume jewelry. (On my wedding day my mom surprised me with some gold jewelry). We also got a yellow sari to be worn on Saturday night and Sunday morning for the “hardee” ceremony.
Hindu weddings in Trinidad may have changed overtime but it those days it consisted of three days of activities. There would be pre-wedding celebrations on Friday and Saturday and the actual wedding on Sunday. Most of this was done at the brides home. Friday night would be the “hardee night”, the Trinidad term for ” the Haldi ceremony”. Family and very close friends were invited to apply turmeric paste (haldi) on the bride’s face, arms and feet and sometimes poke fun at the bride. On Saturday it was more focused on food preparation, the “parching of the Lawa/Laawa (rice paddy),” and Maticoor rituals, decoration of the mandap. It included music and singing and sometimes a live band. The groom was not present for any of this but people would apply turmeric to the groom as well at his house.
As the custom or tradition went at the time: On Sunday the bride comes out in a yellow sari for part of the ceremony and then goes back inside. When the groom arrives, then she comes out in a red sari and the actual wedding ceremony takes place. After the wedding, the bride dresses with a white wedding dress as she leaves with her husband. This was the influence of living in a different society rather than living in India where you would go home in the same sari. I guess the custom changed because girls wanted to see how they looked in a wedding dress. At that time, most weddings took place like that and we just followed that instead of thinking about purpose etc. I basically had no knowledge of anything and there was no internet so I went along with my mom what everyone was doing. So the question was, where was I going to get a white wedding dress? They did not have stores selling it so it had to be made by someone.
My mom and I then went to see her cousin Lee and asked her if she could sew one for me. Lee sewed dresses for people and had an eye for fashion and makeup. My cousin Mona, also knew how to sew clothes, style hair and apply make up and she and Lee had a very close relationship. Lee told my mom that since my brother, who was resided in the United States, was coming to the wedding then he could bring a wedding dress. It would be cheaper and very beautiful. So we wrote to my brother and my brother’s wife had said she would bring one.
Lee and Mona came to the hardee ceremony on Friday evening just two days before the actual ceremony on Sunday. I showed them the dress that was brought from the US. It was a plain white midi dress. They were so surprised! After talking for a few minutes they said “you are not going to wear that”. They took my measurements for a dress and left. I did not know anything about my brother and sister-in-law’s budget and since she came from a different culture I could not judge. I felt a bit sad and disappointed but did not show it. I contemplated whether to wear the dress or not. Anyway I was caught up in the rest of the festivities and things to be done for the wedding.
We did not have phones so I did not hear anything back from Mona and Lee. It was now Sunday morning at about 10 o’clock and I had just finished the puja ceremony with my yellow sari. I was about to put on the red sari for the actual wedding when they arrived. They then showed me this absolutely beautiful dress and a tiara. I could not believe it! I tried it on and it fit perfectly. Would you believe that? It was like in a fairy tale and they were like my fairy god mothers. They did not wave an actual magic wand but it seemed that way, since they sewed a wedding dress for me in ONE day. They had taken the measurements for a dress on Friday night and came back two days later with a wedding dress. I felt very beautiful that day in my red sari and then in that gorgeous wedding dress they made . They helped me tie my sari, fix my hair and put on makeup. I donned a tiara. I did not know what a tiara was, honestly.
It was many years later when I got a chance to talk to Mona about the dress. She told me the following story: She and Lee were totally shocked to see the dress that my sis-in-law brought. Lee had had experiences of people bringing beautiful dresses from the US that were better than she can sew. She felt really bad because my mom had come to her. Lee and Mona decided to sew the dress. Early on Saturday morning they went to Port-of-Spain to gather materials. They came back to Couva and started sewing. They only took breaks to eat and sewed late into the night until the dress was done!
Are you saying WOW! Well I am certainly saying that. I had no idea then what transpired, only grateful that there were people of that caliber in my family. I was barely acquainted with Lee but knew Mona a little and they did this great thing for my mom and me. Would you do such a thing? I had lost touch with Mona for quite some time since I moved to the US and she moved to Canada, but now we chat on the phone sometimes.
These two women made my wedding day special for what they did. Nowadays, I now wonder how many people would do such a thing? In the world where values and truth seem to be collapsing, I know there are still those who are doing wonderful things like this. Please give kudos to these two beautiful, kind and inspiring women – Lee and Mona.