Okay, I landed in Hyderabad to a quiet and cute city (compared to New Delhi, even the Pishpeshim market on Friday afternoon looks like a silent movie).
So why did I go to this unfamiliar city? To make a long story short, Liran, a good friend from home moved to the Netherlands, met an Indian girl named Snigda and they are getting married!
I arrived at the Sheraton Hotel where the family was staying (Liran’s family). After about 10 minutes of staying in the whos and whos areas of Hyderabad, the guys arrived.
It’s nice to meet close people abroad even if it’s just a few days after the flight from Israel. A little small talk, pee and sleep.
The next day we went to a museum in the city. We went everywhere with a driver and it was nice to experience a different style of travel than mine.
It’s easy to know you’re in a non-touristy place when you discover that you’re actually the attraction and everyone is staring at you and asking for pictures (Liad’s girlfriend is a blonde with blue eyes, which is the equivalent of an alien with a pair of horns walking around Dizengoff Center for them).
Barat, the great driver, knew how to explain every picture, statue or sword that was in the museum. It was fascinating! (Side story: Cool watch in Hyderabad)
We returned to the hotel, and here comes the moment we gathered for - the wedding (or at least the first day out of five)
So a classic Indian wedding in Telangana (the state in India) is divided into five days (don’t hold me accountable for the translation):
1 - Mehndi
2 - Haldi and Sangeet
3- Palikudoku
4 - The Wedding
5 - Pooja
Day 1 - Mehndi
We arrived at Snigda’s house wearing gorgeous colorful kurtas (a kurta is a type of festive Indian shirt).
Snigda’s family is very cute and they welcomed us in a charming way. Then, we went up to the roof of the building, where a really cool decor awaited us that put us in the wedding atmosphere.
We started getting to know the family members, the cute grandpa, the many aunts and uncles, the brothers and cousins. (For them, cousins are just like brothers)
With every passing minute, we picked up countless more difficult names. It will definitely be a challenge to remember names later in the week.
We ate delicious Indian food and got henna tattoos on demand.
Recognize? I challenged the artist
I really liked this way of starting the wedding. Basically, when a couple gets married, it ties two families together, and it’s also very positive in my opinion that the families will get to know each other and have good relations.
We played ice-breaking games like pantomime for movie names (a bit difficult when it’s Indian movies), we saw presentations with pictures of the families, and it helped break the ice and get to know each other more. (Maybe we’ll adopt this for Israel? Could be cool)
Day 2 - Haldi and Sangeet
If the first day helped break the ice, then by the second day we had become real friends with Snigda’s family.
In the morning we drove to a beautiful farm outside the city, tidy and full of yellow decorations. (This whole day revolved around the color yellow)
We started with a ceremony where the guests ask the bride and groom questions about themselves (How did you meet? What do you like to do together? What’s your stupidest fight?), which is also one of the things I liked the most this week. I think it gives a glimpse into the relationship of the couple getting married from a slightly different angle (maybe we should adopt that too? Wow, maybe we should make a list).
After that, we moved on to the material phase of the ceremony. At this point, we smeared turmeric on the bride and groom, threw flowers at them, and poured water on them.
At this point, things heated up and the Great Turmeric War broke out, in which the wedding guests armed themselves with a supply of the most deadly weapon - liquid turmeric. Turmeric was everywhere.
From there, it was very natural to move on to the next stage of this fun, the rain dance stage. In Israel, sprinklers are mainly used to put out fires, in India they are used to light parties. The DJ started playing Indian music that the hips couldn’t resist, and he started moving. One of the best parties of my life. This also went on the list of things to import to the Holy Land.
We threw Liran and Snigda into the pool and jumped in too, of course without thinking too much about what we would wear afterwards.
We went to the room to get ready for the evening, to practice the dance we were asked to perform (we chose to perform the Hora to bring a little Zionism to distant India). While getting ready, we were given a generous dose of mosquito spray into the room, a great way to eliminate mosquitoes is to kill thier prey - us.
The rehearsals for the Hora dance were tough and all the predictions predicted that we would not bring a podium, but against all odds at the moment of truth we came as underdogs and did the unbelievable, we brought the trophy (there was no trophy and no ranking but deep down we knew that if there had been one it would have come to us without question).
I forgot to mention that at this point the haldi ended and the sangeet began.
I wore a suit for the first time in my life, which was specially tailored for me in New Delhi after they measured every girth on my body, yes every girth. On the one hand I felt not me and on the other hand I felt cool. (Maybe Bernie Stinson knows a thing or two after all)
From here it was pure fun. Just eat and dance. The dance floor was on fire and my legs knew no rest.
I added some Indian-style moves to my basket of movements, I need to use them at parties.
Oh my, that was one of the most fun days!
Day 3 - Pelikodoku
On the third day of the wedding, after we got to know each other and had fun, we could concentrate on the real thing. Pouring rice on a couple and taking pictures in a series of positions.
The day felt calm after the madness of the previous day and included a variety of blessings and rituals.
In the evening I joined Ronen who went to buy gold earrings for his girlfriend. We went to an impressive gold shop, all eyes were locked on the two white guys who landed straight from outer space.
On the way back from the gold shop, we had an interesting experience when our tuk-tuk hit the bumper of another car. Nothing happened to the tuk-tuk and us, but the bumper of the other car was a little scratched. It was interesting to see how they deal with it. There is no insurance for such things in India and the solution was reached the old way, in the end the driver Tuk compensated the other driver with 300 rupees which is the equivalent of half a falafel portion in Israel.
In the evening, Vi, Ronen and I went to the Old City. We started at a biryani restaurant that reminded us of a factory with about 50 hardworking employees working hard to feed the many clients.
On the way to the central area, we stopped at a chai house packed with people. I drank a very delicious saffron chai. Although I told myself that I would try my best to maintain my veganism abroad, there are situations where it is simply difficult.
This chai house sells about 900 liters of chai a day, which by quick calculation comes out to 18,000 cups. Like a good Israeli, I calculated the gross income beforehand, 22 thousand shekels a day. Pretty good, certainly when it comes to India.
It was very nice to hang out with Vi, who is originally from Hyderabad. She took care of us and provided explanations for the questions we had. Overall, I think it’s wonderful to find a local who will hang out with you, it gives you peace of mind and that’s how you get to the places that are truly worth it.
The central area was very beautiful, it was obvious that tourists from abroad don’t come there by the number of looks they gave us.
Day 4 - The Wedding
The big day had arrived - the wedding.
I arrived at the hotel where the wedding would take place, dressed in my festive kurta. The wedding itself was to take place at exactly 11:48, well not exactly the wedding but something had to happen at that time and it seemed to me that everything was fine because everyone was behaving normally.
So many rituals were happening on stage that it was difficult to keep track. The amount of rice that was poured on the heads of the groom and the bride could easily fill three number 6 poika pots. The indian “Rabbi” and his faithful assistant had control over everything that was happening and it was obvious that they knew their stuff.
Of course, everything was accompanied by a band that was a bit jarring to my taste but added to the atmosphere (some drums and an instrument reminiscent of a vuvuzela).
Overall, it was a very nice day even though at a certain point the fatigue got me and I hoped that the rabbi would finish the story.
Of course, after the wedding, Liad and I went to the pool and sauna, just to relax a bit. A real pleasure, I’m going to miss this fresh moment.
In the evening, Vendit and I went to a local club. The clubs here operate on the principle of paying X rupees at the entrance and receiving a coupon of X rupees for a drink. We got lucky and accidentally received two additional coupons (for 80 shekels you can drink until you don’t know yourself). Three beers and two chasers did their job and the moves I learned only a few days ago have already entered my party repertoire.
The cool part of the party was that while we were dancing, they showed the World Cup final, France - Argentina. Every goal had an effect on the crowd of people who were clearly leaning towards the South American team. The last penalty was crazy!
In India, clubs close at 12, which is the worst part of the evening, as I was prepared to continue for at least a few more hours.
Day 5 - Pooja
The last day of the celebrations arrived and was more relaxed than the other days. It took place at Snigda’s house and it also included a variety of rituals and sermons from the “Rebbe”. Breaking coconuts, pouring rice and lighting candles no longer seemed strange at this point.
There were no photographers present and I was given the role of main photographer, which gave me a good opportunity to try out the new camera on all its settings.
When everything was over at about 5, we said goodbye to Snigda’s family. To be honest, I felt like we had bonded with them after those days, even though we didn’t really talk to most of them, but I think celebrating, rejoicing and dancing do an equally good job of creating a bond.
I continued with the Neta family to their hotel, where we said goodbye. And these will probably be the last familiar faces I will see for a while.
Now I’m in my hotel in the city, writing about what I’ve been through in the last few days. The days were busy and there wasn’t much time to relax and think about things, I’ll try to take advantage of the next few days that I’m still here in the city to digest.
In the meantime, I can safely say that it was a great experience, I met a lot of good people, some of whom I hope I’ll meet again in the future, I was exposed to a fascinating culture that I doubt I would have been exposed to if it weren’t for this wedding. It was full of laughter and happy moments and overall it was a lot of fun to experience such experiences with friends.
I hope to get to more unusual events like this later in the journey.