Wedding Bells

The gang!

Her cuteness definitely has me beat.

Athulya: She was the best part of all the festivities


Building the reception was in.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a friend of a friend's (times 3) wedding reception. While it might be inappropriate to invite several strangers to a wedding ceremony in the United States, it seems more or less welcome to do so here. I was excited to attend, although a bit nervous that I didn't have the right dress. Most Indians wear really beautiful dress to such occasions, but I have yet to purchase anything too fancy. I decided on a red kurta I'd bought a couple weeks ago, and headed over to the "Nungambakam house" to meet up with my friends. The reception was for Nico's colleague at work, and the invitation said to come from 6-9. When I got to Nico's house, him and the four other blokes were dressed to the nines. Button down shirts, ties, and polished shoes.
Being the foreigners that we are (American, Belgian, Norwegian, French, Colombian), we showed up at just about 6:00 pm on the dot. However, being punctual isn't exactly the norm here. The party wasn't quite hopping by this point in time, to say the least, but we were all hungry, so we decided to leave for a bit to grab some food. Silly move, again, on our parts. None of us knew what to expect at the reception (food at a Hindu wedding reception? nahhhh) so we didn't know whether we would be fed. We munched down on quite a bit of food at a local joint, some of which was new to me. Chenna masala and chapatti for me. (Chenna masala is basically chick peas in a spicy sauce-- chapatti a bread made of flour, water, salt, and ghee) After filling up on dinner #1, we headed back to the reception. It was quite crowded at this point in time, with a live band playing and a line of people waiting to have their picture taken with the bride and groom. I was instantly approached by a little girl who proceeded to impress me with her English skills. She was an adorable chatterbox, and she led the way for us to have our photograph taken.
I must have had my picture taken a hundred times over the course of the evening, posing with different people's kids and families. After a while, we took a break from the smiling and greeting to have dinner #2. We should have known- if you're invited to an Indian wedding celebration, there's a pretty good chance you'll eat...a lot.
There were rows of chairs of people, already mid-eats. At each seat there was a palm leaf (which acts as a plate) and several small piles of curries, sauces, and rice. It looked like quite a bit, but we knew we had to go over it. Turns out, what already was in place on the palm leaf was a mere fraction of what was to come. Servers came around with steel buckets of food, and one by one, slopped them onto the leaf.
I will say I managed to put quite a dent in dinner #2, but alas, was not able to finish it all.
After dinner we just kind of stood around awkwardly, smiling at people and playing with kids. The reception was fun, although not what some of us had expected. There was live music, but that scene wasn't as big as I had pictured it to be. No boisterous dancing to be had (except by me in my chair). Overall it was a good time, and nice to experience a Hindu celebration.

On another somewhat related note, my one and only twin sister, Alison Leigh Ransom, is gettin' hitched!!! This is truly the craziest news I've heard so far in 2009! Although I was quite disappointed to find out via the internet (I cried!), I'm very happy for her. Congratulations girl!
Oh, and for those of you wondering when I'm going to tie the knot...don't hold your breath.
:)