Sindhi Wedding – Day 2 (Night)

The first real party of the wedding was kicked off at the hotel nightclub called Velvet. The joint was quite sweet with a huge bar, decent dance floor, and awesome sound system. I made some new friends there and had an opportunity to catch up with some that I had not met in a few years. The DJ was pretty wikid and from what I can remember, we all got pretty wasted. Most weddings I have attended recently tend to open with these sorts of parties catering mostly to the young crowd at the wedding, giving them a chance to mingle. Single guys can meet single girls, and who knows. The clubs in India have to close pretty early though so the music was shut down by 3am. But this of course did not slow us down. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Sindhi Wedding – Day 2 (Morning)

The second day at the resort was actually the fist official day of the wedding. We opened this with a very typical Sindhi ritual called a BHERANO. I have seen this ceremony performed at other occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries so I am quite sure it is not limited to weddings. The ceremony took place in a small hall in the hotel itself. They set up a small area at the front of the room with musical instruments and pictures of the Sindhi god JHULELAL.

Off to the side, this fellow was kneading dough quite aggressively. I believe he was making a bowl that would be used in the offerings of fruits and flowers to the gods. It’s pretty sad that I do not really know much about all the traditions so a lot of this is based on my assumptions.

The offerings are then all placed around the head honcho who initiates the prayers. This guy however is not the guru who performs the marriage ceremony and other rituals. I believe he is just a Sindhi guy who is here to guide the ritual and sing songs.

There are some ceremonies in the Sindhi wedding that are only open to the boy’s side or the girl’s side of the family. The BHERANO is open to both sides and being the first occasion, it is a good time to get to know the other guests at the wedding. With weddings such as this one there are guests in attendance from all over the world and one can usually catch up with some pretty old friends as well. There is no booze served at this occasion either which can be a good thing when you are choosing your target for the next few days. Indian weddings are apparently a great place to hook up. Personally I yet have to experience it.

I guess the BHERANO also doubles off as an engagement ceremony. The bride and groom exchanged rings here. Once again I think this is a typically Sindhi thing to do. As if Indian weddings are not complex enough, we have to add on a few extra rituals where we can exchange jewelry and eat together.

Honestly though, this was a pretty fun occasion. After the rings are exchanged the entertainers break into enthusiastic drum beats and traditional Sindhi folk songs. The whole family is drawn into the dance and the festive vibes are brought into full swing. The guests and family usually make small cash offerings to the band after twirling the notes over the heads of the bride and groom. This is a kind of blessing. The band will keep playing as long as they get offerings and people will keep making offering as long as the band keeps them pumped. After an hour or 2 this can become a pretty agonizing cycle.

Once things die down we all eat lunch together and usually retire for the afternoon and make preparations for the remaining occasions.

Sign Spotting

I spotted this sign in the elevator in the building where I went for my full medical check up. I did not notice it till I was leaving. I guess I should feel safe that if the lift did collapse there would be doctors close by.



The medical check up is actually why I stayed back in India and I guess it was worth it. I had not been for one since before I went to boarding school at 14 years old. I figured that I have done substantial harm to my body since then. Surprisingly however, after a full day of grueling tests and a sleepless night worrying about my fate, I was informed by the physician that I am in near perfect health. My liver of course is not in the best condition but 6 months off the bottle should be enough for him to rejuvenate completely. So I got away with the obligatory quit smoking, exercise more, and cut down drinking.

I was actually brutally honest with the physician when she asked about my history. She was a very nice lady and she prodded and poked at all the right places to draw information out of me as well. It felt kind of therapeutic in a way, getting it all out. Plus I felt I should be honest if I really want to know if anything is wrong with me. My lungs, stomach, and heart are normal. Apart from high uric acid levels which are associated to drinking, all other blood stuff was a-okay, including cholesterol. She was pretty amazed at the results but very strongly reminded me that I am not Superman. She told me not to get cocky and that if I continued to live the way I do past the age of 30, the damage I am doing will be irreversible.

So I am off to China again next week and I suppose I will try and change my life style a bit, for a few months at least. But the last time I checked today was still Friday so there is still time for one more round.

Floods, Riots, and Bombs…

Mumbai is the most resilient city I have ever been to. I spent 10 days there and through that time the residents of Mumbai have faced some extreme challenges. To say Mumbai is a huge city would be a vast understatement. During the first week of my visit I was staying at the Marriot Renaissance Resort in Powai, which is about 15 minutes away from the airport but miles away from the city center. It is an area of the city which I have never visited before and never even knew existed. The hotel was situated on the edge of a lake, on top of a small hill, and opened up to one hell of a view. My mates wedding took place here. I did not know such a beautiful place existed in Mumbai.



*Veiw from the suite at Renaissance Resort in Powai.

It rained for 3 days solid when I got there which made it pretty impossible for people to get in or out of the hotel. This made the logistics transporting guests in from the airport to the hotel pretty hectic. Also all the outdoor parties were rained out. But it was still an awesome monsoon wedding (more about that later). Other areas of the city were also flooded as we found out from numerous news reports. The same thing had happened last year that led to outbreaks of disease and many deaths. Fortunately this season was not as severe but it was a belt down.

*Gateway of India, Mumbai.

Towards the end of the 5 day wedding the rains finally let up and made way for crazy hot and humid days. I mean you could set foot out of the hotel and be drenched in sweat within minutes. The weather was as extreme as the division between the poor and rich in Mumbai. I have never seen such a social paradox any other place on this planet. So after the wedding I was planning on heading to South Mumbai to visit my folks. It just so happens however that on that particular morning some vandals had defaced a statue of Bal Thakre’s late wife which caused a full fledged riot to break out in the city. This happened to be in the only place one can cross over into the South side of Mumbai and vice versa. For the second time in one week, I was trapped. Busses were burned and shop windows broken as the Shiv Sainiks vented their anger and flexed their muscles to the opposition party, true democratic politics in action.

*Haji Ali Mosque, Mubai.

But as suddenly as the violence erupted it also subsided. By evening the roads were opened again and traffic was flowing. The next day it was work as usual. There were a lot of police patrolling the streets but the public in general did not seem stirred. I spent the next afternoon chilling at LEOPOLDS in Colaba, which is a pretty popular tourist hub and things were bustling. In fact I can not remember ever seeing so many tourists in the area. There were even a whole lot of young Indian kids hanging around and shopping. You could never guess there was unrest in the city just yesterday.

*The well known Leoplds Cafe in Colaba, Mubai.

The worst was yet to come when day before yesterday, on the 11th of July 2006, 8 separate bombs ripped through 8 different carriages on the Mumbai rail road system. These trains were utilized by working class Indians traveling home from work. I was supposed to catch a flight home that night but it turned out to be impossible with the traffic jams. Public busses and taxis were filled to the brim with people trying to make it home to see if their loved ones were okay. Unlike Jakarta, hustlers do not sell food and water on the roads but kids and adults from the apartment building near by all came down to the streets near their homes offering food and water to the commuters who were crammed into the busses. It was awesome to see these people come to aid of their fellow men and women. And even as we gave up and spun around heading home I saw numerous people from affluent homes standing on the side of the roads with cartons of water and biscuits handing them out to cars going by.

*Breaking News on 7/11

Today life was on track in the city. The trains that could run did and people went to work. Although people seemed aware of what happened the night before they were not shaken at all. It is hard to explain the strength of the Mumbites and how they have taken such challenges in stride. One might say it is because their hearts are hardened by the poverty and suffering they witness on a daily basis but yet they are out there lending a helping hand even when they have not been asked to. This is truly food for thought for me.