Saying that we stood out like sore thumbs is an understatement…BUT Chandran’s wedding was such an amazing experience! Two of my old co-workers picked us up in a cab at 4 p.m. for a 7 p.m. wedding (we learned later that the time is VERY loose for when the reception will start)….we trudged through 2 hours of traffic and arrived at a small “village/town” outside of Chennai.
The wedding was in a small-ish wedding hall and was starting to fill up when we got there. There was cotton candy (the brightest pink I’ve ever seen), popcorn and balloons for the kids…they were running around like crazy. We sat in the back- and for some reason we sat below a fluorescent light…which is only funny because as the sun went down bugs were dive-bombing us and instead of just being the two white girls….we were then the white girls flailing around trying to keep the bugs from dive-bombing us. The bugs were also really sticky….(weird- I know)…and kept sticking to our clothes. Oh what a scene.
We were also wearing some Indian-garb (dresses) we had purchased- and I’m sure were total posers in some peoples eyes. But we were LOVING it! The bride and groom entered and everyone cheered—they made their way around the room- she was holding a candle- and we heard tradition is that it is her first job to keep it lit. She did a good job:)
We then were ushered down to eat—and we sat down and all of our food was served on a banana leaf. Ang was freaking out because there was water on the banana leaf….and I was freaking out because the food was frickin hot and we couldn’t drink the water they had provided! And they just kept coming with more food… it was an assembly line of 5 guys- each with a pot of something new…and they would just ladle it onto your banana leaf.
Everyone was starting at us (in a loving way) wondering what we were going to do with our hands…since no utensils were provided. We just got right in there….and ate what we could. We avoided cold-milk-like substances…but mostly the food was great! Everyone ate really fast….and we soon realized that we better finish up or eat faster….we chose to finish up..and I think the guys we were with were relieved that we would no longer be making a scene. Everyone was SO hospitable…it was great!
We then went and greeted the couple- posed for pictures…and somehow I ended up awkwardly on the stage for too long—which Ang lovingly documented for me. I am standing there- on the outskirts and probably in a few family photos that should be cropped.
We are both really glad we attended the wedding!
(Photos coming soon!)
I'm sure they loved that you wore local clothes. when I was there, they took me to buy a traditional kurta, and insisted that I wear it to the office, because everyone would love it!
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