Vol 90 India part 5

Yay!!!!! My internal hard drive is now an external hard drive!!!!! I still have all of my photos and music and my book! Yay!!!!!

Before anything else goes wrong I want to post my Indian wedding photos.

Yes, I do realize there are too many of them. Tough. What's a wedding without too many photos?

When we woke up the house was already full of activity. The bride was in the dining room with one of the young nephews and as every lady would arrive she would smear a little dab of red on his forehead and then hers. The she'd dip a coin into crushed rice crackers and feed it to him and to her. When I asked the significance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

Here the bride's parents and eldest daughter are doing something or other with a wooden dowel to the bride's hairline. Notice the nephew caught in the act. When I asked the significance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

The corner of the dining room had been converted into an offering corner.

The relatives kept arriving all day.

The sari's were so beautiful.

The baby got lots of attention.

We headed over to the reception where I was forced to pose with all of the ladies in the beautiful sari's. I felt distinctly underdressed all night. I was sooooo grateful to Priyanka for having this Salwar suit stitched by her tailor in time for the wedding.

There was soooooo much food there. While waiting for the bulk of the guests to arrive I made the rounds of the food tables. This is the chutney/pickle table.

Chat/snacks/appetizers.

Dosa station. If you don't know what dosa is you must hurry out to an Indian restaurant and order it immediately.

Pani puri station. One of my favorites.

Making bread.

The curries.

The waiters all wanted to be in the photo.

The pann station.

The groom arrived on a horse. All of his family and friends arrived with him amid much dancing and singing. There was a band playing along with them.

In order to invite the god Ganesha to the wedding.....

The groom had to brush this image of him with the branch.

The mother of the bride performed a bunch of rites at the entrance. She was seeing if he measured up for her daughter. How did I get this excellent photo? Everyone kept inviting me to the front. They had all been to many Hindu weddings before but they knew it was my first.

Some of the sweet kids at the wedding.

Yes, those are rose petals.

The groom and his family were on one end of a stage.

The bride was at the other.

They each climbed the stairs and met in the middle.

After rings and garlands were exchanged there were rose petal explosions. The air smelt fantastic. Every wedding has it's moment and this was the part where I choked up. It was so beautiful. And again, I was right in front to see it all. I was so grateful.

Close up of the beading and embroidery on the bride's sari. It was truly incredible. She told me later that is weighed a ton.

From the left, the brother of my hostess, the husband of my hostess and the brother-in-law of my hostess.

Demonstrating how I feel about having my photo taken.

My hostess, Priyanka, and I. She insisted on this photo after the face-pulling. Actually, I quite like this photo.

The bride and groom sat in chairs on a stage for the rest of the night, having their photo taken, while the guests enjoyed the food, which was incredible, by the way.

Parents of the bride on the right, groom on the left.

This is pretty much everyone in the house I was staying at. Such a nice family. I smile whenever I see this photo.

Even i had to have my photo taken with them. I was in a group of scragglers at the very end.

Another photo of me that I don't hate! Priyanka was good at bringing out the joy in me.

And another. Thanks for the braces, Mom and Dad!

When we returned to the house everyone changed into another sari including the bride. This was a e ceremony in the dining room. When I asked the significance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

The we all went outside for the religious wedding ceremony.

It was very complicated. They did a ton of fussy little things.

Each time, when I asked the signifigance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

I'm not kidding. All day, no matter who I asked, they never knew why they did any of it.

But it sure was eye candy.

Their arms were tied together and they walked around the fire 3 times.

I am told this is the equivalent to "I now pronounce you man and wife".

This was one of the last photos I took. She was moving her toes from coint to coin. When I asked the signifigance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".......

This was the longest wedding ceremony I have ever been to. It began around midnight. I left at 3:45 to catch my plane back to Muscat and it was still going on.

I waved goodbye to the bride and groom, caught a cab to the airport and slept like a baby on the plane.

The next day I had a bit of diahrea so I guess the tap water got me in the end after all :)

The wedding video turned out quite nice I think.

I'll try to post the remainder of my good photos from this year in Oman before I come home for Christmas but I make no promises....

Vol 89 When life sucks, it sucks hard!

I'll just out with it.

I killed my laptop.

I am in the habit of simply closing the lid when I go to bed. Not taking the extra 20 seconds to shut it down. I awoke last weekend to find that one of my air conditioners had peed all over my desk. Mostly on my laptop. When I opened it there was a puddle in the keyboard. No friendly little green lights. I turned it on it's side and a cup of water poured out.

I panicked for a little bit. Seriously. Then I called Lane on what was left of my calling card. I quickly told him the situation and asked him to quickly tell me if it was ok before my calling call died. "It's dead" he said. "You might recover your hardrive but your laptop is toast".

I started crying, he comforted me.

One of our investors at work owns a computer business so I gave it to him the next day. He has confirmed that it's dead and agrees the hardrive is probably allright. His guys are going to try to turn my internal hardrive into an external hardrive so I can access all my files.

All of my photos from 2008 are on it. The book I've been working on is on it.

Sigh.

So, much as I would like to finish the India blog and show off all the great Hindu wedding photos I got, I cannot.

Back when I can,

Susan

Vol 88 India Part 4

Hope you like henna.......

Priyanka and I returned to her family's house/hotel in the morning to find that the mendi (henna) artist had arrived and was already at work.

There were women everywhere. In the most beautful sari's.


The living room was always filled with women. The lady in the middle is the henna artist. She was so good!

Here's the first cousin done.

Detail of palm side.

And the back side.

Here I am with the bride and one of her nephews. Her name is Ankita but everyone calls her Sweetie. And she is a sweetie.

Here she is again, with more of the nephews.

It was all little boys in this family until this little angel came along.

Shortly after we arrived breakfast was served. Everyone was always served a plate of food where ever they happened to be at meal time. As I ate, women would come and refill the things I had finished. If you ever have a chance to eat Indian breakfast, take it. Flat rice, jelabi, and a crispy stuffed bread. Wow good.

All day long Aunties and cousins and sisters came and went and each of them got mendhi on their hands in preparation for the wedding the next day.

The henna artist drew the main outlines then Priyanka filled it in with detail work. (Remember, Priya's an artist).

A really good artist. Palm side....

Back side. So pretty.

Priyanka's sister's hands. Palm side.

Back side.

While this was going on family and staff were hard at work on lunch. I was not allowed to help. :(

This and the next one are my favorite photos from the whole trip. Click on them to blow them up. I just loved her and the light.

I just LOVE this photo!

Lunch was incredible again. Rice, dal, aloo ghobi (potato and cauliflower curry), paneer korma (Indian cheese cubes in a creamy tomato curry sauce), roti (Indian flat bread), raita (yogurt salad), raw tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. Oh my was it good.

After lunch someone went out to a paanwalla and brought home a bunch of paan for everyone. I had never tried it so they insisted.

What is paan? I shall quote Wikipedia"

"Paan, from the word pan in Hindi پان and some other related languages, हिन्दी : पान ), is a South and South East Asian tradition which consists of chewing Betel leaf (Piper betle) combined with the areca nut. There are many regional variations.

Paan is chewed as a palate cleanser and a breath freshener. It is also commonly offered to guests and visitors as a sign of hospitality and as "ice breaker" to start conversation. It also has a symbolic value at ceremonies and cultural events in South and Southeast Asia. Paan makers may use mukhwas or tobacco as an ingredient in their paan fillings. Although most types of paan contain areca nuts as a filling, some do not. Other types include what is called sweet paan, where sugar, candied fruit and fennel seeds are used."

Ok, the paan they bought for me was betel nut, tobacco, ground fennel seed, sugar syrup and rose petals. I bit into it and I swear to God it was like eating an incense stick. The overpowering flavor was rose. It was like a mouthful of sweet rose perfume. Ya know, I pride myself on having an adventurous palate. As long as there is no meat in something I usually like it. I did not like paan. They all watched me as I tried to chew that first bite. Then I stopped and said "I'm sorry, I just don't like it". They all laughed and told me to spit it out. Which I happily did.

More beautiful mendhi. Palm side.

Back side.

And then it was my turn!

After the henna paste is applied you must keep it on for 2 hours. There was a bowl of lemon juice and sugar with a tiny sponge that all the ladies were constantly rewetting their mendhi with. If you keep it moist it doesn't crack and fall off. It's important to keep it on for at least 2 hours to ensure a dark color.

After it is scraped off it looked like this. Vick vapor rub was applied and I was told not to wash my hands for at least 6 hours. Try that sometime. Try using a toilet and then not washing your hands. The longer you go without washing your hands the darker the mendhi will be.

Snacks broke out. Samosa's. Ridiculously good samosa's. Milk sweets, milk tea with ginger and a crispy cardamom, grape sweet that was quite good. Then ice cream. Sigh.

I wrote in my travel journal (thank you again, Leanne) "I think I died and went to vegetarian heaven".

All the "ladies" got mendhi. They explained to me that when you look at your hands in the weeks after the wedding and you see the mendhi, you should think of the bride.

Sweeties turn! That's her best friend sitting to her right.

It took hours to do Sweeties mendhi. She told me she felt blessed to have me at her wedding. Imagine! I was so grateful to be there and she felt blessed? I felt blessed! Not just to be allowed into this family's home but to be welcomed. I could not have felt more blessed and grateful. To be surrounded by so much love made me realize how ready I am to find my own man to love.

The results were stunning. Click on them to see the detail. Palm side

Back side.

The garden of the house/hotel. So pretty.

The porch.

Mother of the bride getting her mendhi.

Palm side.

Back side. It's so pretty!

The bride's feet are also decorated.

Tradition say the darker her mendhi gets the more her husband loves her. So she was being very careful. The mother of the groom would be judging her mendhi at the wedding so it was important not to mess it up.

While her feet were being done her friends were teasing her. That is her fiance's photo. Theirs is a love match, unusual in this family. They met at work.

Finished.

Priyanka was the very last to have hers done. She couldn't do hers until she and the artist had completed everyone else's.

I gave her grief about being shy for a photo so she immediately dropped her shyness with this pose.

Her palms.


Could she be more lovely? And she is. She is truly lovely.

Of all the Aunties running around in the house this was my very favorite. Super sweet.



Once the mendhi was done some napping broke out. I napped.

Then it was off to dinner. One of Priyanka's cousin's was having their 1st wedding anniversary party and even though it was important to stay home to be with her family, it was also important to celebrate with her cousin. She and one of her sisters decided we should go have dinner with the cousin and her husband. A bunch of us piled into 2 cars and went to a really nice Italian restaurant.

The decor was very tasteful and elegant. The food was a set menu for the anniversary party and was scrumptious. Vegetarian again :) An interesting combination of Italian and Indian. Minestrone soup with lemon juice and chili etc. Being a couchsurfer sure takes me to places I would never have experienced otherwise.

We stayed as short a time as we could without being rude, then raced home.

And dancing broke out! Yay!

I was happy to watch from the side lines, hiding behind my camera.

Then they started playing the soundtrack form the Bollywood movie "Om, Shanti, Om". This is my very favorite Bollywood movie as it was the first one I ever saw. My friend Katie and I went to see it at the theater last winter when it first came out. I've seen a bunch of Hindi movies since then but "Om, Shanti, Om" is the best by far.

And it has a really catchy soundtrack. I couldn't help it, I started bouncing and next thing I knew Priya's brother had grabbed the camera from me.....

..... and I was a dancing fool. And I mean fool. I really can't dance to Hindi music so I looked a bit silly.

Her brother tried to take a photo of me and I got shy. Piyanka was standing beside me and said "Unh, uh! If I had to let you take my photo, you have to let him take yours!"

She was right! About this photo she said "Here you can see your beauty, your joy". Smart cookie.

One of the things that struck me was how nice everyone was. Just nice, nice people. I wondered if that is what it is like when a stranger is invited into our family. I think we are all nice, nice people too. That thought made me happy.

Then Priya did a solo dance. Lovely.

Next her cousin took a turn. She is a really good dancer too. Then Priya's sister took a turn.

Then it was a dance party until we were all too tired to dance more.



Everyone slept there that night. some in the hotel rooms and Priya and her kids and some other female relatives slept in the family room.

We were all excited because tomorrow was wedding day!

(I cheated, by the way- I washed my hands.)