The Wedding

Carlos and Aashumi's wedding was the impetus for this entire trip, so
it was lovely to celebrate with them on their wedding day.

On Saturday, the day of the wedding, Lexi and I set out to see a Jain
temple and to do more shopping of course. Jainism is a descendant of
Hinduism, similar in the same way that Catholicism and Protestantism
are (so actually quite distinct). The temple was very interesting,
with much ornamentation. There was a quote written above a set of
stairs that I particularly liked: "Everyman is the architect of his
own fortune."

After we went to a store called Anoki where they had marvelous hand-
printed fabrics in everything from table cloths to clothes. They have
a factory set up in another part of of the country where many workers
utilize the age old process of printing with wooden blocks carved with
intricate designs. Lexi about bought the store out!

Then we headed to Chimanlals, a paper store recommended to me by my
goodfriend Elaine who is from Mumbai. The shop is kind of tucked away
on this little tree lined street. If you know me, then you know I'm a
sucker for paper goods, especially hand made cards and envelopes; I
was a kid in a candy store. I pretty much bought one of everything,
and it only came to 1000 rupees ($20). How cool is that?

Then we came back to get ready for the wedding. I dressed in my new
silk kurta and Lexi in a traditional womens outfit, not a saree, but a
blinged out top with a long skirt and a beautiful scarf. She looked
spectacular! And in her words, she said she "looks like Hillary
Clinton attending some state dinner trying to look 'traditional'."
That or the Eat, Pray, Love woman going through her midlife crisis.

The way the wedding proceeds is that the groom and his entire posse
show up together and are accepted by the bride's family. There are a
series of rituals that different members of the bride's family goes
through before the bride herself appears and trades necklaces with the
groom. Then everyone enters and sits down for a couple hours of more
rituals. Meanwhile, many of the guests are just milling about, eating
appetizers and having conversations. It was quite strange, although
I'm told this is standard. Aashumi was kind enough to put together a
worksheet that explained all oft he ceremonial aspects of the wedding
which proved to be quite useful (and interesting) for us foreigners.

Then there was more food followed by lots of mingling. As the party
was dying down we put together a plan for all the "younger" people to
rendevous (bride and groom included) at a rooftop bar. It was a very
swanky place, with drinks costing the same as at any NY or LA hotspot.
There were white sofas everywhere and we had a spot right next to the
pool. It was a great night! Congratulations to Carlos and Aashumi!