I’m so excited to share this all with you. We just finished up what will undoubtedly be one of the coolest cultural experiences of our lifetimes – a 5 day wedding in a rural village in Gujarat!! How did we get this opportunity, you ask? Why only because of a friendship we made in Peru back in 2013. The friends we’re speaking of, Urvi and Sanjay, were also expats at the time. They have since moved back to the US but we remained connected over time and when they found out we were moving to Mumbai, they extended an invitation for us to partake in the festivities for Urvi’s brother’s wedding. Here’s a picture of our two families together.
OF COURSE we said yes, because who in their right mind would pass up an opportunity this cool?!? That didn’t mean I wouldn’t fret about it though. There was so much I didn’t know – where we’d stay, if we’d be truly welcome, what to gift, what to wear (my biggest area of concern) and how we’d get there. Things were pretty vague right up until the last minute but we just kept trusting that it would all work out. And of course it did (with one small exception – see below), which is why I’m so glad we took the risk.
We answered the question of HOW to get there by deciding to take the train. Trains are super popular in India and the wedding was only a 4 hour train ride from Mumbai (and a mere $50 round trip TOTAL for 3 people). This was my first train ride in India and it felt very authentic. Kind of gritty but VERY cool. And everyone was very kind to us even though we looked very out of place. Our only misstep was getting off at the wrong train station on the way to the wedding. Thankfully our gracious hosts offered to drive the 45 minutes to come rescue us. Crisis averted!
When we arrived we were shocked to see that the main street had been closed so that a make-shift tent could be erected. Fabric had been strung from one side of houses to the other and fabric flooring had also been installed.
There were also a plethora of lights, a big entrance display, a stage and a sound system. It was incredible – you would have never known it was THIS road a few days before!
Below you can see a picture of the groom’s family home. His grandfather still lives there. This was the central point for all the festivities.
Lucky for us, our lodging was directly across the street! Other villagers had offered to host wedding attendees so we stayed with Urvi & Sanj and 2 other families. Our host couple was so gracious. I had to get creative on how to express my gratitude given that we didn’t share any common languages. It all worked out just fine though…had to brush off my old pantomiming skills from Peru! :) Speaking of communication, one challenge/blessing was that internet was nonexistent. No wifi and I couldn’t get a signal even once on my phone. Was strange to be so unplugged but also refreshing. I was amazed at how I lost track of both hours and days as I relaxed into the slower pace of village life!
The wedding festivities covered 3 days and the “tent space†was transformed for each of the 3 events held there. The pictures above and below show the set-up used for the two Puja ceremonies. I’ll say more about those ceremonies in another post.
And on the night of the dance, everything was cleared away and a big stage was erected at one end of the tent. I loved how versatile the space was – an ideal place to congregate no matter what time of day it was and also great for those of us with fair skin! I loved not having to constantly worry about sunscreen.
There’s so much to share about the wedding that I’ve broken it down into 5 posts. In addition to today’s, I’ll be posting 1 for each of the next 4 days. I hope you enjoy learning about Indian weddings as much as I did. :)
I’ll leave you with a few last pictures – first, the groom’s family (minus the bride).
And the beautiful couple, Neal & Janki.
More to come tomorrow – do check back!
