Rajasthani Wedding

So I trained it up from Goa to Jaipur only about an Amtrak's 10 hours late because of a derailing ahead of us. I bought some pirated DVD's of Indiana Jones, James Bond, Lord of the Rings, and Kung Fu and watched Octopusy on my laptop like a geek showing off. The Kung Fu turned out to be King Kong. Some kid also repaired some zippers for me for a few cents. I was quite impressed.

I haven't shopped at all during my travels because I didnt want to carry anything extra around with me but I decided to go on a massive spree in Jaipur and ship a parcel back home. So I spent the better part of a week getting ripped off in jewelry stores, buying cashmere wool shawls, etc., but it was loads of fun and now I've got plenty to share when I get home just in case I need to make new friends. I also had three suits tailored. Two for myself, a fabulous white linen Colombian drug lord suit and a blue pinstripe three piece business suit. And one for my brosther, a gray pinstripe three piece business suit.

Then I got to try out my new fits at the wedding. The ceremonies lasted two days with delicious catered lunch and dinner. The brides father owns a fabulous restaurant near by. The first evening were song and dance performances from friends and relatives. It was quite impressive really. The second evening was the ceremony. The princely groom rode in on a white horse, waited for his bride to be on a throne, then lassoed her with a flower necklace. At midnight, after several hours of photographs with the hundreds of guests, the actual marriage ceremony began at a temporary altar with the remaining guests sitting around it being served tea and coffee. The ritual has to be hundreds of years old with Sanskrit recited and dozens of steps involving parents, throwing rice, fire, smudging colorful stuff on foreheads, etc. At three in the morning they were married. I have several weddings to attend back home this summer (big congrats to my brother Tom and his fiance Kendra!) and it will be fun to compare traditions. So that's my second Jaipur wedding in Just 5 years and I am not even close to tired of them yet. Thanks Kochar family for inviting me!

Just before the wedding I got caught up in a Bollywood movie. I found myself spending the day wearing a cheap British officer uniform circa 1930 on a fancy movie set by a lake for the day. Mostly I just sat there but it was quite the eye opener to be inside a movie set and watch all the works that goes on. Look for the Bollywood movie "Veer" when it comes out in a year or two. Its an action romance musical and should be a big hit.