A day in the life of ..... a WEDDING, Nov. 3-4

Wow, we were invited to a South Indian Wedding! Srini (our driver) invited us to his wife's brother's wedding. It was an arranged marriage, and over the past few months Srini had gone through some of the stages with me (incl. some disappointments at match.com type arrangements). Finally, in July, Srini had announced that the wedding would occur 3 months later in Nov. And how long had the couple known each other, I ask? Well, since July. They'd met a couple of times, SMS'd, and talked over the phone. Further, since their stars weren't perfectly aligned, they had to perform a couple of poojas to mitigate.

The wedding was AMAZING!! For us it started with the reception the night before the actual wedding. Bride and groom were all decked out, standing on a stage type thing, greeting well-wishers. For us guests, there was a buffet-feast set up upstairs. It was delicious vegetarian food, served stand-up style, and there was a wonderful festive atmosphere with people milling about, and children playing. I was wearing my brand new and 'modern' sari with sequin (by Neemrata -- a famous Bangalore designer) but many guests were just wearing jeans or work-type clothes.

Sunday morning was the actual wedding. After a special breakfast of special idli (white rice sponge cake) with coconut chutney and with sambar (S. Indian veg. curry) served on a banana leaf and followed by South Indian coffee served in two tin cups, we went to see the wedding couple perform their various pooja's (prayers/rituals). They must have been there from at least 8am-1pm doing rituals!!! But all around them there were family and friends (and a few token foreigners) milling about, and children laughing and running. Everyone was wearing their best sari (I came in a fancy salwar kameez --- pant suit with long shawl).

Meanwhile the poor wedding couple kept getting yelled at by the priest for doing something wrong or not at all. It was all in good jest though. The wedding itself was very ritualized and organized (sort of), but the guests and family attending were all over the place. No one was really paying attention to the bride and groom, except me and Phil. It was bubble-like.

Lunch was served upstairs for the guests, but the wedding couple still had to fullfill more pooja's. Again the food was served on a banana leaf, but this time in a distinct pattern: approx. from left to right, top to bottom. There were about 5 different veg. gravy dishes, 2 dry dishes, then rice, papads, pickle, and of course rice, rassam, and sambar, and dessert. It was scrumptious, but a bit strange for my palate to have the curries flow into the payassam dessert (sweet coconut milk with tapioca).

This was truly a grand experience. We couldn't imagine a more eccelectic mix of young and old, modern and traditional, Indian and foreign. It was ritualistic yet free and relaxed. There was beautiful decor but red plastic chairs. Guests were wearing opulent and extravagant sari's and jewelry, while others came in jeans and still others in lungis (a sarong worn by men).

Thank you Srini, for sharing this special event with us! We will always remember it.