Mehendi/Sangeet
The title words meant little to nothing to me.. mainly because I've never been to one before. Meaning a ceremony that has the same, and well, for those people who may be as unfamiliar to the tradition as I am, it is- atleast in this pre- wedding ceremony, a get together of sorts, for the bride and her family, celebrating the departure of their loved one.
We all got mehendi's done, I think earlier in the day there was a haldi ceremony (if i know right, it's where all the relatives go over to the bride and put turmeric on her face and she will later take a shower to remove all the turmeric and the yellow). The friends of the bride (not me: unfortunately) and I guess the younger relatives of the household plan out dance steps that will be showcased later in the evening.
Following the mehendi, the music is turned on, and lo behold out come the dancers with their co-ordinated steps to Bollywood tunes that center around the concept of a departing bride. I thought this was sweet, and very honestly wished that I was a little less rigid at the prospect of dancing in front of a lot of relatives- who by the way also joined in. I think I'd forgotten, that it is possible to have fun of this sort with out alcohol.
The dance was followed by dinner, which in this case was Mutton Biryani, Brinjal Curry-Masala thing, Raita and vegetables. Dessert was popular indian sweet meats & cake. And if I thought that that was the end of the night, it was followed by Dumb Charades & a game of antakshari. A sweet family moment was when the bride's father sung an ode to his wife, and I guess what was running in the bride's mind was that she hoped that many years down the line, her husband would confidently take the center stage to sing a love song for her.
And surely, this drew applause & cat whistles from the crowd, while the bride's mum looked away blushing. Following several complaints from the neighbors, the music & the noise had to stop and hence it was declared to be the end of the night. So I have work in three hours time, and I can only be thankful that it's Friday tom, even though I'm working on Saturday too.
And to add on a side note, Rahul Gandhi's recruiting new members into the Congress Youth Wing- one condition though, no criminal records. Good on the man, it's about time we revolutionised our politics.
Also, the boys at work won their football match, even without my presence. Who's the happy manager now?
We all got mehendi's done, I think earlier in the day there was a haldi ceremony (if i know right, it's where all the relatives go over to the bride and put turmeric on her face and she will later take a shower to remove all the turmeric and the yellow). The friends of the bride (not me: unfortunately) and I guess the younger relatives of the household plan out dance steps that will be showcased later in the evening.
Following the mehendi, the music is turned on, and lo behold out come the dancers with their co-ordinated steps to Bollywood tunes that center around the concept of a departing bride. I thought this was sweet, and very honestly wished that I was a little less rigid at the prospect of dancing in front of a lot of relatives- who by the way also joined in. I think I'd forgotten, that it is possible to have fun of this sort with out alcohol.
The dance was followed by dinner, which in this case was Mutton Biryani, Brinjal Curry-Masala thing, Raita and vegetables. Dessert was popular indian sweet meats & cake. And if I thought that that was the end of the night, it was followed by Dumb Charades & a game of antakshari. A sweet family moment was when the bride's father sung an ode to his wife, and I guess what was running in the bride's mind was that she hoped that many years down the line, her husband would confidently take the center stage to sing a love song for her.
And surely, this drew applause & cat whistles from the crowd, while the bride's mum looked away blushing. Following several complaints from the neighbors, the music & the noise had to stop and hence it was declared to be the end of the night. So I have work in three hours time, and I can only be thankful that it's Friday tom, even though I'm working on Saturday too.
And to add on a side note, Rahul Gandhi's recruiting new members into the Congress Youth Wing- one condition though, no criminal records. Good on the man, it's about time we revolutionised our politics.
Also, the boys at work won their football match, even without my presence. Who's the happy manager now?
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