On our first day in Kolkata, we woke up to pouring rain. It rained all day. And it was not even rainy season. Just like that unexpected hail storm and rain shower during the wedding ceremony, this very rainy day was a surprise. This was the day that Saumya’s family organized another wedding reception for friends in Kolkata who could not come all the way to Agra (that’s about 18 hour drive) for the wedding. The reception was set up at their farmhouse location (it looked nothing like a farmhouse though, more like a villa) an hour drive from their main house. All the tables and food was supposed to be outside…but we had to move everything inside last minute.
So, before the reception, Pradnya took me, Katya, my sister and my mom to the hairdressers’ to get our hair and make up done…although I opted for my own make up, just to make sure I had it the way I wanted. We also had a lady come to help me, my sister and and my mom to get our saris on, so we’d look fabulously Indian.
When we arrived to the reception, everything was ready! As always—brightly colored decorations.
More flowery decorations inside. This is actually an open area in the middle of the house! It really does not get cold in Kolkata (although my sister now it’s freezing when it’s 60s outside).
By the time we got to the house, Mark and Alex had had probably at least five glasses of Coke. They were two little crazies!-hahaha. It didn’t take Katya very long to catch up to them. I think she had ten cups of some sort of fizzy drink…wait till I post a video of her recording herself being sugar high.
And it’s all because while Robert and I were busy playing hosts of the reception, meeting new people, making small talk and taking pictures, kids were having their own little party.
Update (March 19, 2014): I have proof of that now—here are a few pictures from Ashok:
Oh, so let me show you what we looked like! Not our ordinary choice of dress, but I thought we looked pretty authentic-haha.
And this is my mom’s look “I am proud to be a Ukrainian wearing this Indian sari!”.
Robert was playing paparazzi, making new friends.
Half of the time, Alex was hanging out with Mokshada’s friend, mostly because there was food in that room.
Oh, but the main attraction were the newlyweds of course!! They got to sit on their fancy golden thrones and have everyone who came to visit them take a picture with them.
Saumya: “I know. I am so good looking, I even look good in pink and purple”.
Lyena: “Seriously, the best hairstyle I got all week! Who knew that “rollers” meant thingies you put in your hair to curl your hair and not something you roller skate in?”.
Okay, okay, that’s much better. What a lovely couple!!!! You are both adorable!!!
We got a ton of pictures near these thrones, and I really hope to see them someday.
Mark was probably all smiles because Ashok told him, “Just wait. After the reception, I’ll take you to a candy shop!”.
So we also had a luncheon at the reception, unfortunately inside. The food was great again. BUT, my most favorite thing ever were Jalebis, remember those orange sweets that (Wikipedia tells me this) are made by deep-frying a wheat flour batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup. Yum! Seriously. I think I was the only one at that table eating them, silly people. You can see, I am offering them to others but no success. I had to eat them all. So to answer the question in the title of this post, I don’t remember how many of those sweets I had, but probably a dozen…
The whole reception was a great success, but we all took a breath of relief when it was over. Weddings are stressful, no matter how much you plan and organize beforehand. Finally, we were finished with all the celebrations!
I leave you with my new favorite picture!
Until next time.
Lyana.
P.S. I cannot believe I am done with my India blogging…phew…
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