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| Wedding crasher... courtesy of B.H. |
As I was catching up on some reading and trying to prepare myself for the big final week of classes, my buddy reminded me that there was a wedding he’d be going to with the ex-pat gang that evening. I wasn’t sure if I could swing it, but then again, who passes up the opportunity to crash a wedding? With the offer to wear an Indian outfit on the table, I could not resist. We got ourselves ready and they made the trek into the city to meet up with the rest of the gang. We ended up at a friend’s house with the guys waiting for the girls to get ready. Of course that never happens in the states, but here those saris take a long time to put on, especially if you don’t regularly don the sari. I must say that this was yet another “I’m proud to be a man” moment. Ha! Okay, so once the girls were ready we had to take a few pictures because they really did look wonderful all decked out in their beautiful saris. After the photo shoot, we were off to the wedding.
What we went to was actually the wedding reception, but as you may have heard, they are huge! We walked into an enormous room that probably had seating for 500 people or so. At the front is a large, colorful stage decorated with various ornaments, colorful flowers and stuff. The bride and groom sit on the podium or stand or stage or whatever it’s called. They just smile and look pretty for the cameras. Every once in a while some folks walk up and pass along their congratulations, but for the most part, they just sit there smiling at the crowd. Although it was a little awkward, my friends invited me onto the stage with them and introduced me to the bride and groom. I’m still not sure how I feel about meeting someone for the first time at their wedding, but without their invitation! I’m just gonna chalk that one up as being okay because of the cultural differences…
Next, we went downstairs for food. As was expected, it was a catered meal and the food was excellent. There were plenty of different options, so fortunately the “Man v. Food” side of me did not take over otherwise I probably would have exploded! Interestingly enough, there were only a couple tables for people to sit down and eat even though there were probably at least 2-3 hundred people. Again, it’s pretty standard to eat standing up (Mimi, if you’re reading this, don’t get any crazy ideas right before your wedding!). There was also a water table, but most people don’t drink anything with the meal, they just grab a drink after the meal. It makes sense if you think about how hard it would be to hold a plate, eat, and hold a drink while standing up. The dessert was okay, but nothing amazing.
Oh, I just realized that in addition to my first Hindu wedding, I also got into my first car accident as well! It was a pretty rainy night and basically we pulled out into some fast-moving oncoming traffic and they could not stop in time. It was like slow motion as I’m sitting in the passenger’s seat watching the car skid towards us. It seemed inevitable that they would hit us and when they finally did, I was surprised that it didn’t feel much different than getting hit in a bumper car. Honestly, we bounced and they bounced. Some words were exchanged, but since no apparent damage was done we both drove off. And so in addition to attending my first Indian wedding, I was also involved in my first car accident. Fortunately, as far as I could tell, no one was hurt in either.
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