Wedding Party and Hyderabad in a nutshell. The End.

 Wedding reception day arrives and we got dolled up on our 2nd saree wearing evening. Our dashing date takes us to the party and its back to hrs of photo taking for the happy couple and us mingling to the beats of the seikh army band. A couple of drinks and we are maneuvering are bejeweled costumes w/ less intimidation.
The party ends early and try to continue the party but then again we are flying early to the gateway of the south, Hyderabad

We arrive to  one of the wealthiest ppl in the worlds "home". Still #5 on the money it list it was said that these Nizams use to use diamonds as paper weights. We are taken by horse carriage up to the palace and escorted to the room by our lovely butler shabawa or shabu shabu? Gigi is as sick as I've even seen someone so after our sundowner of melodic" whose got talent "india style evening she goes to bed early.
So by now I haven't mentioned but I got a call from my father that my grandmother (Oma) had passed away :(  he asks me to  try and make it to the funeral but I'm exhausted here on week 3. But family is family and I'm now in planning mode in my head.
The next morning we visit the fort of hyderabad. Poor guide kept blabbing and clapping away through the 360 steps up but I'm just not there. Somewhere between the acoustics and mosaic ed mausoleums I notice a bloody goat leg dripping from a tree branch. Ummm. Excuse me? Am I the only one noticing the drip drip drip bloody drip. "Well" Mr Guide says, " looks like someone got pregnant"........I'm still 'umming' here.
Yeah sooo, there was a termite mound under a tree ( what a concept) and they believe that the sacred cobra lives under it. So they offer it coconuts and pray to the snake for fertility. Looks like the chick got knocked up bc as a thank you note to the cobra they offered him a goat. Drip. Drip.
And now its time for a 5 course, 18 flavors meal. Got goat? No seriously, this meal was insane. I have to say after my kilos of expertise, TAJ hotels have the best Indian food. Lekker!
The minute we get back to the hotel, I figure out my options and get everything settled to leave for Holland. Relief. I take a quick tour through the petite 101 seat dining table room, jade room, billiard room, study room, and the entrance with about 6 mona lisa staring paitings. They seriously follow ur gaze like doting admirers.
We have our last dinner with our Guru Reet :( and make sure we get our 330am wake up call.
India, Thank You.
Reet, Thank You http://www.quovadis.in/
and all the hotels who hosted us...Thank You!!

Trident Hotel-Dehli

Raas Ranvas - Jodhpur

Mihir garh

Chhatra Sagar                 

Devi Ratn- Jaipur

Amanbagh 

Leela Palace- Dehli

TAJ Falaknuma Hyderabad 

Will be back soon, visa expires end on April ;)

Wedding Night a la India

We arrive to the grooms house covered in strands of christmas style lights and yellow flowers. This is to show the community that their is a marriage in the house. Being such an auspicious day there were over 5000 weddings in Dehli tonight competing for the most grand award.
The aunts and cousins help us in our saree and voila we were transformed into Indian Princesses. The family starts the ceremonies with a buddhist chant mixed with Hindu traditions. I can't tell which is which but they  feed the groom and place ribbons of money around him. Can I have one?? 

Downstairs the band is practicing on their drums and a white horse dressed in gallant horseware is waiting for us to come down. Boom bam boom we are coming down. Daman mounts his horse with his cute nephew ( tradition for a blessed marriage with children)and we start the procession slowly to the temple. Imagine a man followed by papparazzi, his mother, two sisters, cousins, out of towners, uncles, close family members and Gigi and I dancing to beats of the drum moving inches at a time then breaking into dance yet one more time. Each time we stop an aunt or uncle will take a stash of money and swirl it above the person who is dancing the hardest and then throws it up in the air. This is to ward off any spirits and also keeps the musicians happy.

These weddings don't obey traffic either. There we are in saree's following a white horse ( we are about 50ppl) in the middle of the street with traffic going crazy and who cares!?! Its a wedding people!!
After he rings the bell at the Hindu temple, and more money is thrown up in the air ( I could have bought another pashmina by now) we get into the busses for our 2 hour traffic ride to a "farm" that would put the Oscars to shame (except for the bathroom. Do indian women not pee or touch up their makeup? Especially for a 12hr commitment!)
As we drive up and awe at each wedding venue, we turn and see the grandest of them all and start taking pictures bc it was so so big. Yup, then the bus stops and looks like that is our wedding venue where I can easily say around 4,000 people were in there. We meet outside, the elders do another ceremony of the wifes family accepting him into theirs. A couple of delicious vegetarian hors d'ouvres  and Daman gets back on his horse and looks like we are dancing and drumming and throwing money all over again till we get to the main door. As we get closer I feel my body easing into the punjabi beat. One of the ladies tells me to keep dancing bc the party ends at the door. What do u mean the party stops!??
Walk in the door and queue Kenny G for the next 5 HOURS!!! Shoot me.

2am rolls in with the mosquitoes and we get to leave! Hallelujah praise lord Shiva. Then the ceremony starts and the 5k ppl has dwindled into about 75. We gather around a gazebo thingy and the Brahmen priest starts doing his rituals of burning ghee and  black smoke stuff. They walk around the fire 7 times and then we all come and throw rose petals on them. By now its 430am. I give a pleeing look to Gigi who thankfully says, "ok, its time." We have to leave for Agra in 3 1/2 hrs anyway. Shower. Bed.