Well, I don’t know where to begin. I haven’t written for two days because it has been nuts around here. The planning of this event is huge! I’m just kinda watching and wishing I knew more about what was happening so that I could help more.
Yesterday we went to Rita and Gayatri’s apartment for lunch. Priya and the girls started practicing on their dance and then we tried on our Indian outfits. They had to make a few adjustments but it’s gonna be fun to wear them. They are very pretty. Priya’s are the coolest thing ever!!
Last night’s ceremony was called Kirtan. It is performed to offer blessings to the bride and groom. It is a gathering of mostly women who sang and prayed. There were two ladies dressed in white who were the evangelists. They were sitting in chairs and everyone else was sitting on the floor facing them. All in attendance had to cover their heads so Neeta let me borrow a wrap (gunghat) from her to cover my head. We also had to take off our shoes before we entered the room. Pash told me to do whatever Rena (Pash’s sister-in-law) did. That made me a little nervous, but I followed her. I told Priya to do whatever I did. Rena went to the ladies and knelt and leaned over touching their feet with her forehead. I was afraid of a possible great fall if I tried that so I just bowed slightly with my hands together and said “Namaste” (greetings). Then Priya did the same thing. Then we sat on the floor with the others. They passed out small songbooks with words written in Hindi. There were ladies who took turns singing and leading the others in singing. Of course, I didn’t understand the writing or the words. I just sat and observed everything going on around me. This went on for 2 to 3 hours. After that, food was served and everybody visited.
Priya, Shania, and Shrena ended up going outside and playing. Priya met two more of her cousins – these were boys. They all played together outside. This was the first day that Priya was not clinging to me and enjoying being with the other kids.
We left there around 7:00 with plans to go come back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Priya went to sleep on the way back to the hotel and we were not able to wake her up to leave for dinner! I ended up staying at the hotel and Pash went with the others to eat. Then Priya was back up at 4:00 a.m. Will her body ever adjust to the new time?
Today Rena started asking me about jewelry and shoes to go with my Indian clothes. I realized that my jewelry and shoes are not what they would wear so we had to go shopping for jewelry sets and shoes (bummer). We went to a mall to look for the shoes. It was a very nice mall!! But, I soon realized that in this part of the world not many ladies wear a size 9 shoe! You should have seen the salemen’s eyes nearly pop out of their heads when Rena would ask if they had something in a 9. But, I will say that I have never been catered to like I was in the shoe stores. Once they figured out what the lady with the big foot was looking for, they were coming out one right after the other with shoes for me to try. There would be 4 or 5 of them looking for shoes for me. By the way, size 9 is the largest they had so don’t go looking for anything bigger in, I would say, the entire continent of Asia.
Then we went to New Market to look for my jewelry. New Market is an experience in itself. You see everything there! You find things unique to the culture and typical things we see in the states. This is a place where you can and should do some bargaining. Of course, they know that I have no idea about price so Rena was my bargaining tool. I would show her something I wanted and the war would begin. I’m never going anywhere without her! She is good! We finally found jewelry sets to go with my new clothes. We’ll see how it all comes together starting tomorrow.
Finally, we ended up at the house where tomorrow night’s ceremony and the actual wedding will take place. It is a huge house with beautiful grounds. It is the home of the late J.C. Nangia. His wife still lives there – little Mrs. Nangia. She is the absolute cutest little thing you have ever seen – she’s the one I accidentally hit with my purse as I was bending over to touch her feet the first time I met her years ago. Thank goodness she doesn’t hold it against me. She was practicing her English with me today – very sweet lady! Everything is being prepared for the upcoming days. Lights are being strung everywhere outside and tent like things going up. It was very exciting to see everything coming together. Oh, by the way, we ended up going out to dinner. We left for the restaurant at 11:00ish p.m. We finished eating around 1:00a.m. I don’t see how they do it! I am exhausted!
Tomorrow is a big day. Priya and I go in the morning to have henna tattoos painted for the evening event.
To some of you who are asking about the food – it is delicious – if I am able to eat it. It is very spicy and you know I’m not the spicy kind. But, everyone is so good about making sure there is something that Priya and I will eat. They are taking such good care of us. We’ve eaten Indian or Chinese most every meal since we’ve been here. Later.
Nangia News from India 