Visit to India - My home

Marriage celebration

Japanese restaurant (Harima 播磨) and Lord Shiva temple at Mudukuthere

Most of the days in November I spent at my homeland - India, to attend a special celebration - my sis marriage. Thanks to my prof, I could get a fairly long vacation of nearly a month. As expected everybody at home were jubilant, busy in various preparations and eagerly awaiting for the event. I landed home a week before the actual celebration. Though I expected last minute tasks to be handed over to me, thanks to my dad, brother and rest of them that I didn't have to do anything other than taking photos or videos of pre-marital ceremonies, accompanying them to shopping and inviting my friends. As for me, the pre-marital ceremonies were itself hectic with lots of interesting rituals (Shastra ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ) happening at home. Some of them include dressing the bride each day in a new saree followed by ritual blessings from married women, bangle wear ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ, coconut leaf-roofed marquee (ಮದುವೆ ಚಪ್ಪರ) in front of home, applying henna (ಗೋರಂಟಿ) on hands and foot and so on. Those are some of the most enjoying and memorable moments as everybody in the family and friends come together and celebrate in unison.

The Indian marriage usually comprises of marriage and reception. The marriage is the actual event in which the pair dress in traditional wear and experience ceremonial rituals like tying the wedding knot (Thaali ತಾಳಿ), exchange of garlands, blessings from the attendees and many others. The customs however differ according to caste, religion, and the location. During reception, the groom dress in suit, the bride in glamarous saree and they greet the guests accompanied by series of photo-sessions. In addition two events are associated with dinner or lunch. The event though appears long and tiring for the marrying individuals, is nevertheless worth to cherish once in a life time.

Apart from marriage ceremony, I could make time to visit some of my relatives near and far. I also happen to go for the first time to a Japanese restaurant in Bangalore along with my siblings and cousins. Overall, the vacation was eventful except that I dearly missed going out with my old friends.