Hindu Wedding in Mumbai

I was invited to a Hindu wedding by someone in the Staples office in Mumbai. While I don’t really know the young lady, I thought this would be a great opportunity to observe some rituals here in this strange and amazing place. I had no idea what to expect since the only Indian wedding I had ever seen was on a Seinfeld show. This show was famous (and infuriating) because it was a two part show shot from last scene to first scene which confused many people. This took a few viewings for me to fully figure it out. While tempted to repeat the reverse order of activity in this blog, I opted not to for two reasons. First, it’s a lot of work. And second, I’m not sure it makes any difference as things seemed to happen in random order.





While most of us are used to Jewish or Christian weddings full of pomp and circumstance (actually, the Wedding March), with specific religious rituals that happen in a solemn and specific order, this wedding was a jumble of people moving about tossing rice at the couple during all parts of the ceremony. People were constantly entering and exiting, clattering about, looking around for others, etc. It was like just another day on the streets here except for a few things. The wedding takes place over a period of several days. The bride and groom are taken through specific religious rituals in a specific order. The attire for the bride and groom is stunning. The people were very, very friendly and welcoming to outsiders. I was constantly being given prime spots to take photos and was invited onto the stage for a photo op in the middle of the service. (I thought maybe because this was day #4, they were running out of things to do and wanted some diversion.)



Rice played a key role in this day’s activities as the bride and groom were involved in various rituals where rice was placed on each other’s head. Sometimes it was a little, other times it was a pancake like thing and at others, there were overflowing handfuls. I had to wonder if this was the same rice they were serving downstairs for lunch.



A future groom



Feet are also important in this ceremony. There is feet cleaning, toe ring ceremonies, etc. I didn't buy a guide book so I couldn't keep up.



Here are two videos of the ceremony, with the usual silly commentary.





Then I saw Susan sitting here watching with great interest along with two of my co-workers on either side of her. Of course, I preferred the part where the bride kissed the groom's feet.



When we got tired of watching, we did what everyone else did, we wandered away. The plan was to go eat lunch downstairs while the ceremony rambled on. And boy, did it look appetizing when we walked into the dining area and people had their hands firmly in the rice on their plates shoveling food into their mouths. I was tempted to join in to say I did it, but there is just no way. Susan joined my co-workers and got a plate a of food while I held back my gag reflex long enough to get outside and buy a Diet Coke and wait for them.

So I go to buy a Diet Coke from a restaurant with a "take away" area for sales to passersby. In India, every retail item has an MRP, which is maximum retail price, stamped on it. I grab two small Diet Cokes from the refrigerator and walk over to pay. The guy looks at the bottom for the stamp which says RS 20 (20 rupees or $.45), he tells me it's 41 rupees for two and then asks another guy there what he should charge and that guy says 44 rupees. I give them my 100 rupee bill and get 56 rupees change and I turned to the guy who said 44 rupees and asked why it wasn't just the 40 rupees allowed by law. (This is a $.09 extra charge) He starts to blather on about cost of electricity for the cooler and some other nonsense so I just burst out laughing and say, "Dude, you're just ripping me off. The legal maximum price you can charge is 40 rupees, not 44. If you're going to rip me off, please come up with a better story. I'll pay you but next time at least give me a better excuse." There were four people who worked there gathering around and they were laughing at my comments as I walked away with another third world experience.