On Friday at exactly 9:31 am, one of my team members, Srilakshmi, married Sridhar for love. Sri and Sri (as they affectionately allow people like me to call them) have known each other since they were kids. Since they were both Brahmins - it was a match made in heaven according to their families.
Sri has been preparing for the wedding for months. One Monday I asked her how her weekend was, and she replied, "So busy, Jessica! I was sari shopping for my wedding."
"How many saris did you get?"
"10!"
"10! When will you wear them all? How could you possibly need 10 saris?!"
"Oh Jessica - I will wear them throughout my wedding." This is when the ladies surrounding Sri pipe in to explain that every couple of hours during the wedding, she'll change into a new 9-yard sari - in fine silk and no petticoat!
Sri invited our entire team to the wedding and told them that 9:31 had been designated the auspicious time for the wedding (I understand that the "marriage act" is also assigned an auspicious time which may or may not fall on the same night as the wedding), but naturally Sri did not mention that...
Meera, the kind woman on my team who meets me every Friday morning in the locker room to assist me with tying my sari (I wear one weekly and I can nearly tie it myself) arranged the collection for a wedding gift and coordinated our travel to the wedding Friday. Three of us (and Nick and Violet) arranged to leave the office at 11. Sri's wedding was on the other side of Hyderabad, close to Nick's university campus, so it would take well over an hour to get there. Our plan was to stay for an hour and have lunch (which apparently is perfectly appropriate - since the wedding ceremonies would commence at 6 am and go well into the night; people come and go throughout the day. We even saw guests sleeping in chairs and on the floors). My boss graciously gave us leave knowing that it would be a highlight of our Indian experience. Oh and it was...
When we got out of the car, I started squealing about the poster with their faces that was posted outside of the wedding hall. As we approached the lobby, Sri's brother materialized (I immediately recognized him given their likeness), and said my company's name. "Come!" he said. He whisked us into a dancing crowd where Sri and Sri were holding hands (they held hands the entire time we were there). Sri was laden with flowers and henna and gold. Her groom was shirtless wearing a yellow dhoti.
Sri's proud father greeted us (also shirtless) in a beautiful white and gold silk dhoti. There was a lot of bowing and gratitude for our presence. It was overwhelming. Soon we were introduced to Sri's mother who held my hands in hers. Sri's sister in-law also guided us around the dance circle after discreetly instructing me to fix my sari so that it was covering the entirety of my blouse.
Then we were escorted to the front of the room by Sri's father where we sat in front of a TV monitor to watch the proceedings.
Before long, a friend of the family took us up to have lunch early, because they understood we had to get back to the office. There Brahmins (also shirtless and wearing dhotis) served us a delicious South Indian feast - roasted channa, dahi wada, poori chole, puli hora, donda kai, brinjal, and laddoo. We ate with our hands and gazed at everyone's beautiful silk saris.
After lunch, we watched the Brahmin priests conduct various ceremonies around a fire that Sri and Sri sat in front of.
Sri took a break to come and show us where they had hidden the letters of her new husband's name in her henna designs. (Purportedly, he can only conduct the marriage act at the auspicious time AND once he's identified his name. Again, this information was not shared by his lovely bride.) Soon it was time to go, but what a joyous communal occasion. As we were leaving, Sri's father accompanied us saying what an honor it was for us to come. The married ladies in our party were given a wedding favor - a silver plate, betel leaf, banana, betel nuts, spices, and blouse material. We were also blessed with some yellow and red powder on our foreheads.
Sri - wishing you many years of happiness and loads of fertility (which I wasn't allowed to write in your card...)
Sri has been preparing for the wedding for months. One Monday I asked her how her weekend was, and she replied, "So busy, Jessica! I was sari shopping for my wedding."
"How many saris did you get?"
"10!"
"10! When will you wear them all? How could you possibly need 10 saris?!"
"Oh Jessica - I will wear them throughout my wedding." This is when the ladies surrounding Sri pipe in to explain that every couple of hours during the wedding, she'll change into a new 9-yard sari - in fine silk and no petticoat!
Sri invited our entire team to the wedding and told them that 9:31 had been designated the auspicious time for the wedding (I understand that the "marriage act" is also assigned an auspicious time which may or may not fall on the same night as the wedding), but naturally Sri did not mention that...
Meera, the kind woman on my team who meets me every Friday morning in the locker room to assist me with tying my sari (I wear one weekly and I can nearly tie it myself) arranged the collection for a wedding gift and coordinated our travel to the wedding Friday. Three of us (and Nick and Violet) arranged to leave the office at 11. Sri's wedding was on the other side of Hyderabad, close to Nick's university campus, so it would take well over an hour to get there. Our plan was to stay for an hour and have lunch (which apparently is perfectly appropriate - since the wedding ceremonies would commence at 6 am and go well into the night; people come and go throughout the day. We even saw guests sleeping in chairs and on the floors). My boss graciously gave us leave knowing that it would be a highlight of our Indian experience. Oh and it was...
 |
| An auspicious sign... |
 |
| The lovely bride and groom. |
 |
| Me with three women on my team (from left) Anaisha, Amulia, and Meera. |
 |
| Violet in front of enormous vats of food. |
After lunch, we watched the Brahmin priests conduct various ceremonies around a fire that Sri and Sri sat in front of.
 |
| Marriage rites (note the hand holding!) |
Sri - wishing you many years of happiness and loads of fertility (which I wasn't allowed to write in your card...)
