We went to another wedding reception today. This one was extremely short notice. The groom went to Kolkata on business and came home to be told he was getting married in a weeks time! It was in a village about 6km away so we traveled in luxury indian transport: the HindustanI ambassador.
When we got there we could here music being blasted from giant speakers and walked round the corner to see people eating rice off banana leaf plates sitting on the ground under a canopy. We were ushured inside and told to sit on some chairs. We met the groom, a man with a very nice face and a broad smile, and then his cousin brought us a drink. A concoction of water, lime, salt and sugar. It tasted a bit like the rehydration drink that you take with a tummy bug: delicious. Then some sweet syrup soaked balls were brought to us on little plates. While we were eating there were little children staring at us but they were very shy and wouldn't speak.
When finished, we were taken to the next room to meet the bride. She waa beautifully adorned and her new husband jumped up on the bed beside her, clearly thrilled at his family's choice. She looked like she was in a state of shock but we think that they will have a happy marriage because of the way the groom is. He was a very good and attentive host. We were then taken to the eating marquee. This family was a little poorer than the last so there were no fans. The food was excellent. We had learned from the last wedding to take small amounts and to stop the servers pilling more onto your plates. The groom's uncle, an elderly man with superb english, came over to our table to make sure that we were being looked after. He brought his grandson with him, a boy of 9 who was very like his grandad. He also spoke english very well and his grandad told us he was a good singer. We persuaded him to sing for us. A song his grandfather had composed. It was just lovely to get to know these 2 and to see the pride in the grandad. Once the eating was done we said many thank yous and left for sarenga being waved away by our new friends. When we go to weddings we are treated like guests of honour just because we are foreigners. Indian hospitality is really wonderful.
Yesterday we went cycling into the jungle yesterday. A fun mixture of tarmac and single track mud. The two biggest dangers on the roads are buses and herds of cows. Cycling with 20 cows coming towards you is particularly terrifying as it is difficult to work out the path to avoid a collision. It is a great way to see the rural villages. As we ride through the villages the children say hello or are very shy and just stand amazed at these strange white people going by. We got to see all the aspects of village life which is just great. Several of the men had green in their hair and I was convinced it was from the soap they used. I was wrong! It was something to do with a political party. When we got back to sarenga there was a brass band playing. This was also a celebration of an election. We don't really know what was going on.
J x
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