Kavitha's engagement party

This weekend we were invited to Kavitha's engagement party. We went there extremely early because the girls still had to get into their saris. Meanwhile Brian, Marcin and I could explore the area.

Although it isn't that far from the centre, the area was much more rural than T-Nagar. Very interesting to go for a walk there.

The engagement itself was a very interesting event. It was extremely loud the whole time: a drummer and a trumpeter played most of the time, all the guests were chatting, and the master of ceremonies was shouting all sorts of things. The use of mobile phones was also a bit different from Christian ceremonies; using your phone seems to be practically good manners. The groom-to-be made two calls during the ceremony, and the master of ceremonies also interrupted his chanting once for what was apparently an important phone call. Unthinkable at a German event…

The bride-to-be, Kavitha, didn't strike me as the happiest person, though. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that her groom is her uncle and the marriage was arranged by the family. So her children will also be her cousins…

On the way home, after a good meal, we passed a temple where a procession was taking place. We were invited into the temple, allowed to watch the procession and were even offered a handful of rice. It was a kind of feeding of the gods: first the god got to eat, and then everyone present got some rice too.