The Finale

We were told the Reception starts at 7pm sharp, and that the bus is booked to bring us back at 2:30am, so we thought we better get some sleep when we can.  With that in mind, we had a big sleep in and a very lazy morning with a stroll along the shopping mall before getting ready.

Our punctuality was, once again, proven unnecessary as we were reminded that we are currently on Indian Standard Time.  The reception started at about 8:30pm with a massive procession 

consisting of the Groom in a horse and carriage laden with fresh flowers and his family and friends dancing to the rhythm of the drums and music down the lane to the Reception venue.  The idea behind this ritual is for the Groom's family to make as much noise as possible as a way to request entry to the Bride's quarters.  The Bride's family get to decide when enough noise was made to allow them to come in and meet the Bride.  

  

The Groom's family have to throw money at the drum and trumpet players to keep them playing longer and louder :)

They sure did - it was deafening!

Poor Marisa, was 'locked' in her hotel room throughout this 1.5 hour procession (although it was only 150m in actual distance) and didn't get to experience it.

  

When we, along with other guests, finally arrived at the reception hall, we were greeted with abundant amount of finger food and free flowing mocktails.  In true Indian tradition, the table we reserved earlier by placing the odd jacket and a handbag on the chair, was overtaken by the locals and we, the imported guests, were 'invited' to find a spot elsewhere :)

Then the Bride entered protected by a canopy carried at each corner by the men in her family.  This was a truly moving moment, and the video clip below does not do it justice:

By the time all this happened, it was about 11pm and the buffet was opened for business.  What a buffet it was!  Even the greatest of carnivores (aka JS) expressed his surprise at just how flavoursome vegetarian food can be..

There were food stations at all 3 sides of the ballroom and always topped up with delicious curries, breads, dahl, noodles, pasta, Indian sweets, fruit etc.  Such a treat!

The Bride and Groom sat on the stage throughout the whole time having photos taken with various guests, and sat down to eat accompanied by their closest family members, only at the very end of the night when most of the patrons went home.

 

The D-floor was pumping from the get go.  The DJ - rather DJs rocked it!  Flashing lights and disco screens were the bomb.

Finally, the Bride and Groom joined in:

The proceedings were completed well after 2am with the actual vows and a religious ceremony (it all seemed a bit back to front to the Westerners, but hell, it was awesome!)

Thank you our beautiful friends (and of course the generous Sharma family), for extending the invitation to us and allowing us the privilege to witness the traditional Indian Wedding and share in on celebrating an important milestone in your new life together.  We congratulate you and wish you all the happiness in the world!

Chapter 2 - Sangeet & Mehndi on Indian Standard Time

We had a few hours spare before the events of Day 2 kicked off at 5-ish.

We found a place to have brunch in a trendy neighbourhood called Hauz Khas.  Quite a different vibe to the old Delhi and the bustling markets.  There were cafes, art galleries, night spots and shops to hang out in.  The best part however, was accidentally discovering a fort from the 1300's originally built as a tank for water, and which later became a theological college and now is a tomb holding the remains of the founder.  This was the second of the old cities of medieval Delhi.

Today, the area seems to be a hang out place for young lovers... ;)

Once late afternoon rolled around, it was time for Day 2 of the wedding festivities.

Sangeet and Mehndi night is all about the ladies, dancing and getting their henna applied. 

The men are very much an accessory for the night, although it didn't stop them crashing the living room dance floor.

There were a couple of henna artists at the party, and ladies were getting their henna on throughout the night.

    

  

The night finished with another ritual which involved the bride and the groom as well as their closest family members being blessed with fruit (in fact fruit seems to feature heavily in lots of nuptial proceedings).

   

Part 1: Tumeric Bath Friday

Warning: we are making up our own names for the various elements.....

Friday marked the beginning of the three day wedding festivus, and the imported guests where pretty excited. At around 11am we made the short trip to the Sharma household and the first impressions did not disappoint. Everybody told us that Indian weddings are all about the colour, and the temporary entrance to the house left us in no doubt about which house was the right one!

 

The other thing that went exactly as we expected was that proceedings proved to be pretty fluid, with even the Bride & Groom not having much idea of what or when each part of the process would happen.  This didn't matter to us at all, as it gave us an opportunity to mingle, and equally as importantly, sample both the breakfast and lunch menu.

The caterers (think 15+ people) had set up a makeshift kitchen under a temporary cover between some trees in the front yard, and seemed to be permanently cooking vegetarian Indian cuisine which was delicious. Breakfast was fresh roti stuffed with potatoes and served with spicy pickles and yoghurt, and lunch was a spread of bread & curried and flash fried veggies.
The bride and groom were not allowed to eat until after the Haldi ceremony (not surprisingly, they were in a bit of a hurry to get the show on the road :))

The Haldi ceremony began with Vik being 'cleansed' by the married women on his side of the family.   The cleansing ingredients included turmeric, sandalwood, rose water (and something else we are not sure what).  They signify purification, and warding off evils as well as make the skin glow.  We have to admit we were a bit worried about Marisa turning orange with her fair complexion.  The number 7 seemed to have featured strongly. There were 7 women doing the cleansing, each repeating the process 7 times.  He didn't look all that cleansed to us at the end and needed a shower

    

Then, it was Marisa's turn:

   

Unscathed, the couple are now ready for parts 2 & 3

  

A Wonder of the World

Taj Mahal...wow!

We had arranged to travel out to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal (Crown Palace) and the Agra Fort  (the King's residence) with some of Marisa's friends.  We travelled by a small mini-van 4-5 hours out of Delhi and stayed overnight.  To make the most of the trip, we booked to see the Taj Mahal in moonlight as well as during the day.  We were lucky to have been there during the full moon (and superman, and blue moon - or red moon - i'm confused).  The Taj seemed a little underwhelming at night. It was hard to see it in detail from the viewing platform, and certainly impossible to take a good photo, unless you are an experienced photographer like our travelling companion - Jason - who took this specky pic:

This was my attempt:

50 people at a time get to enter the gates to the viewing platform, so it was a real treat to see the Taj without having to fight the crowds.

The Taj during the day though was a totally moving experience.  The sheer opulence was stunning, architectural geometry breathtaking and the love story behind this structure overwhelming.  The building is made from white marble, with semi-precious stones forming the decorative patterns.  Yep - every bit of colour is actual stones cut to shape and inlaid into the marble, and there are literally hundreds of thousands like the below.

 

Each facade has a chapter of the koran written on the wall, a total of 15 out of 30 chapters. The other 15 were meant to be written on the second Taj Mahal, to be made of black marble and situated across the river and joined by a half white /half black marble bridge.   Diamonds were meant to be used for writing of Koran chapters.  It was meant to be a resting place for the king after his death. It never eventuated however, because the black Taj was going to cost 4 x as much as much as the white Taj (which was already bloody expensive) and the King was locked up in jail for wanting to spend all that money.  But, before you get all teary about the poor King spending his days behind grotty Indian jail, fear not, as this was his actual jail cell:

The walls were also decorated with gem stones.  The jail was located at the site of the King's Palace - which is now known as Agra Fort.

Back to the Taj Mahal love story.  The king had 4 wives.  Only the second wife (his favourite) bore him children  (14 of them).  Unfortunately, she died in labour with the last one.  Before she died, she requested her husband to:

- look after the children

- never marry again

- to build her a lavish tomb

So, the king spent the next 22 years building the Taj Mahal.  It is surrounded by 4 gates (originally named after the other wives, but now called the South Gate, North Gate, West Gate and East Gate for the ease of English speaking fools), each was dedicated to his 4 wives.

The Taj Mahal is symmetrical and identical from all sides.  The gates and archways align perfectly: 

It really is spectacular.  In the centre is the tomb of his second wife and to the side of that is his own tomb (given he never got his desired resting place in the second Taj made in black)

    

The Agra Fort was pretty cool, too.  It was the living quarters of the King and his family.  It is a shame that the building was not protected or restored and now it's really a ruin (the Indians could have learnt a thing or two from the French in this regard, because the Fort could have competed with Versailles for top spot has it been taken care of over the years.)  It probably didn't help that the British took anything valuable like paintings, and gold spires.

The bus trip back to Delhi was entertaining...with Kingfisher Extra Strong (local beer) on hand and some great company, the 6 hour drive back passed in a blink of an eye: