it never rains and (they tell me) it's very cool, so of course it's wedding season. I've been reminding everyone i know that i've never been to the gargantuan affair that is an indian wedding, and eventually it paid off. Last week i got to gatecrash with a friend.
I was fine with that, but then i was informed that the bride is not only the daughter of a government official, but her brother is an (in)famous (and shady) movie star. I had a problem:
If there's one thing that Indians do, it's Dress Up For Occasions. The cotton dress i'd stuffed into my backpack was not going to cut it. I didn't have the time or money to shop for the kind of outfit i needed. What to do?
I hadn't thought about how generous people are here. Within 24 hours, i was outfitted with a friend's salwar and scarf for the mehndi evening and my coworker's wedding sari for the wedding. Another friend provided all the necessary jewelry from her mother's heirlooms. Advantage of moving across the world: no one here knows that i'm a klutz and i lose everything.
We arrived at the mehndi to find a garden decked with lights, a buffet of indian junk food, and a huge tent with floor cushions and carpets. The bride-to-be was reclining in the centre. Four women were hard at work decorating her hands and feet with the most elaborate mehndi i've ever seen. We all took off our shoes and went to sit on the floor to chat with the bride and get our own hands decorated. It all seemed so elaborate to me, but a woman told me that it was really small and simple... at her wedding, she reclined on a bed of flowers for the mehndi.
I showed my rookie-ness by getting my hands covered in henna and THEN going for the buffet. Never again.
The wedding reception was good fun, except for the part where they served dinner at 12:30am. I must be learning something, cause i ate before we left home.
Weddings always make me teary and this was no exception. Turns out i don't even have to know the bride and groom; give me some corny toasts and the right combination of eighties music (chris de burgh, anybody?) and i'm a mess.
*
ha! the computer guys just took a snap of me. This afternoon, we had a guy following us down the street trying to get our photos.
did i just write 'snap'???
7:29 p.m. - 2003-11-30
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