April 19, 2008

Photo: Wedding reception and meat feast area.

It’s getting hot, high 90’s maybe touching 100 at midday. Not many places available to try refuge.

We were invited to a wedding last night by Shawan, a travel agent. We bought some Indian clothes and three of us rode on a motorcycle over to the groom’s house. The wedding takes 4 or 5 days. This was day 1 where the male relatives of the bride go over to the groom’s family house and give him all the dowry presents. We had a friendly greeting and were seated in the entryway and each given as small box with sweets. We ate and a 13 year old boy befriended us. He showed us all around. Many people were walking around in the two story, middle class house. We went to the room where the old women were sitting and laying around, and another where women and children were putting on make up and laying out children’s clothes. We went to a courtyard where 10 or 12 men were cooking vast amounts of food and finally to the reception area were a dozen servers were waiting around. We went back inside and talked to people and later Shawan came in and we went to eat. Our young guide called it a meat feast since chicken, fish, and goat was being served. Only men were eating, standing around and eating with their hands. I guess women eat after the men. It was good and we had some ice cream to top it off. It was time to go to the rooftop where the groom and a priest and an old woman were making puja (prayers). The old women had painted the feet of all of the married women red. Since feet are dirty this is a low caste job. After a while bed covers where were spread out on the ground and people started arriving. The women, in their best saris, started singing non-melodic songs. The roof started filling up and then the male relatives of the bride arrived. They had coolies carry up the gifts. The prize gift appeared to be a flat screen TV.They also brought their own priest and videographer and light man. The priests started their throat praying and the women sang and a man played a drum in the street and the CD player played Hindi pop. People sat around and chatted on cell phones. After this a man from the bride’s party sat before the groom who held out his cupped hands and remained emotionless. He placed one gift after another into the groom’s hands and each was removed by a withered old man sitting at the groom’s side.Water jug, iron, food processor, platter, cups, all the things for a household. There was a pause and little cups of ice cream were handed out. It was a hot night and ice cream was good. Everybody dropped the empty cups on the ground. Things picked up again and the priests made more puja and rice was thrown on the groom. A man in the back fired a shotgun in the air. Then one man after another started whipping rupee notes around the groom’s head and then paid the videographer, coolies, priests and the old low caste women with the notes. Things started to breakup. Curtis went forward a dropped an envelope with 201 rupees into the groom’s hands. He accepted it silently.