Pre-Wedding Festivities

From Rumkini & Joseph's Wedding

The last 2 days have been amazingly fun as we have been celebrating the love-marriage wedding of Shomik's cousin Rukmini and Joseph. The Indian wedding is officially tomorrow but we have been partaking in pre-wedding events for the last 2 days. The most fun day was definitely yesterday, which started with mehndi (henna) hand painting for all the lady friends of the bride, her family, family friends and me. The palms and other side of my hands were elaborately painted intricate designs which, after hours of drying, have stained my hands a dark brown color. According to Indian tradition, the darker your henna is the more you are loved by your man, so I guess that means I am very loved. They also had different color bangles for the ladies to pick out to wear that evening with their saris or salwar kameez. I got yellow ones to accent the yellow and blue border of my saree. In the evening, we went to the bride's sangt, where all the bride's friends sing and dance in honor of the special day to come. As the bride and her friends have all been incredibly kind to me and have really welcomed me into their group, I performed in a dance with the bride's two oldest friends and her Turkish college friends. It was really fun and I was glad that I did not trip over my saree during the dance and fall off stage. S took a video and photos. Many of the guests were happy to see that S and I dressed in traditional Indian clothing. Before the party, the bride's friends helped wrap me in the 6 yards of red fabric, pinning it to ensure that my saree did not fall off during the dance. The last few days have been great and it has been really fun catching up with Shomik and getting to meet his family.
Today is conveniently a day off from festivities, which works out nicely because it is my 25th birthday. S and I are spending the afternoon together as the Dutta men visit extended family. While my birthday is not the same without my family and friends around to celebrate with, I am so glad that I have S here with me.