Of Turbans and Horses

Today was the wedding of someone I know through school. The ceremony, according to our invitation, was supposed to begin at 10am. Alex and I arrived at 9:55am, thinking we might be a few minutes late. However, when the clock struck ten, only four people were present: all Type A American business school students. In reality, there's this thing called Indian Standard Time. While that is the official name of India's time zone, it means that everything begins two hours later than scheduled. Wish we had known that.

Prior to the ceremony, which began shortly after noon and lasted for a couple of hours, we were instructed by the groom's family to cover our heads. The family had professional turban wrappers on site, as you can see. The family, and most Indians, have been very friendly and have tried to get us to try and do everything that is Indian tradition.

Rajasthani Wedding Attire

Next, we lined up in the procession with the groom. The procession, which lasted about an hour, consisted of the groom's side of the wedding. It also included him riding a horse and holding a golden sword. Unlike American weddings in which the procession is very formal, this seemed, in some sense, like an exercise in chaos.

The Groom

Upon arrival at the altar, the two families exchanged pleasantries. After that, there was some type of ceremony involving fire. Not really sure what happened. Despite a few hundred people encircling the altar, the only people actually paying attention to the ceremony were the families and the silly gringos with their cameras (...guilty). We were quite surprised by that.

The Ceremony

Originally I had heard there would be about 2,000 people at the wedding. In actuality, there were probably only about 300; a good size wedding nonetheless.

The reception is this evening and is "Western formal" - so no need for the turban any more. Phew. Those things are hot. As George Costanza would say, "It just bottles in the heat." The reception will be at the same venue, but because these are Jains (which is its own branch of religion), there will be no meat or alcohol at the reception. But that's okay, because a few of us are going to have a cocktail hour before.