Getting back on track to telling my previous trip to India..
The day before the wedding
I got ready in the morning and came over to the grooms house not knowing what to expect. There's a ceremony called haldi rasam where turmeric is applied all over the groom and the families faces. The moment I stepped onto the top terrace aunties were more than happy to apply on me and give to me to apply. Afterwards I Was told that whoever puts the haldi on is said to be married next. I wonder if its true? It's amusing also that there's an equivalent of catching the brides bouquet and that this is it.
Afterward there was more sangeet with blessings and gifting of new clothes. Also mehendi (aka henna) was being done this day. Some common friends had landed this day in time for the wedding as well so we were participating in mehendi. I had traditional Indian designs completely on my forearm and hands. The artist who did it had almost permanently stained thumb and forefinger from working with the henna paste and he was very swift and steady and above all patient. He worked on the ladies and kids in the day and later came back in the night to do the grooms design. Here he did a very nice one and kept the bride and grooms name in the design.
The sangeet continued where more singing was done and the groom was anointed with tikka and some other traditions. I couldn't quite understand the meaning of everything but there was a coconut and marigolds and some holy water type of things. Eventually we threw some flower petals at some point. Prayed at some point. Put our hands on the grooms head at some point and photos were taken. I'm trying to recall this two days later and it's difficult because of so many intricacies in the tradition. There's also a part where blessings are given by waving rupees over the head and rupees collected in a thali plate along with some of the flowers. Ill have to research a little more to completely understand the purpose of it all.
Later that evening the aunties left and it was time for some kana and Bollywood music. After we had eaten there was dancing and of course any desi tends to be a little surprised and happy to see me dance. I only wish I could become really good at it like the bride's sisters. It was as if watching them as heroines in an actual movie dancing!
The boys came and joined and the ladies left actually to go for a ride to see where the parents of a girl who couldn't make it are living. They showed us Gomti Nagar area and took us for sweets. There were sweets I'd never seen before but I saw gulab jamon (deemed "syrup-y donut holes" by my AT&T gora colleagues) I had to have the real deal. It was soft warm squishy and so sweet with its rosewater syrup that I was in heaven! The rest of the group got kulfi which is Indian ice cream kind of but I of course am avoiding dairy thanks to my lactarded state. It's been hard when chais all have milk :(
One thing I didn't like was when we were done with the sweets there's no actual garbage system here. Instead of finding a can and throwing it people just throw everything on the street. I mentioned it was hard for me to do as in the US it's just what were taught and it comes natural to think garbage is what you put in the can.
After the sweets we went to a vendor making fresh paan on the street. This is basically a bettle leaf with some seeds and sometimes tobacco and maybe a molasses kind of syrup which all gets wrapped in the leaf and you eat it after food to help digestion. A stray thought occurred that thank god I'm not sick like I was in El Salvador. I wouldn't be able to do or see much! Mostly bottled or filtered water and having food in home or at reputable places seems to have made it alright.
We returned back after accepting an invitation for breakfast the morning of the wedding with the missing friends family. When we reached there was great music playing up on the terrace and we were rushed upstairs to join the festivities. While us ladies were out the boys boozed a little, maybe even a lot. At first it was hard to tell because everyone was so happy, but one of the uncles definitely had a bit too much to drink and it sort of let everyone end the night on a happy note.. and drunk one if you were one of the boys!
