Wedding Bells, Fireworks, Term Papers

So the last few weeks haven’t been filled with too much excitement, but there have been some good times. Mostly what I’ve been occupying myself with has been writing all of my papers and getting school out of the way. I have been spending massive amounts of time at the study center working late hours in my attempts to rid myself of the burden of school. I usually sleep on my thin sleeping bag on the hard tile or on a long desk in the conference room. Sometimes I go for days without showering or going home (don’t judge me). The good news is that I’m finally finished and I’m going home tonight to shower! With the exception of my final exam for Hindi in early December, my studies are pretty much complete here. In the last month since returning from the break I have completed three classes and written over forty pages for said classes. It has been challenging but ultimately rewarding as it feels amazing to finally be finished, almost. During my studies we were fortunate enough to be invited to the wedding of my roommate's cousin. The wedding was about an hour away but well worth the journey. I had never been to a Hindu ceremony let alone attending a wedding in which the couple were arranged. It proved to be a most interesting evening. The drinks were flowing, the rotlis were rolling and the bindis were bountiful. Since none of us had ever attended a wedding in India, we were unsure as to the order of events. We arrived at the groom’s house and waited while guests slowly began to arrive. We were about half an hour early because we didn’t account for the IST (Indian Standard Time) half-hour delay. Before the groom ceremony began we took seats at the back of the yard. In the middle of the ceremony my roommate’s uncle stopped everything and insisted that we take seats behind the pundits performing the ceremony in front of the entire crowd. We resisted, he persisted and eventually we gave in to uncle’s insistence. The ceremony was very interesting and then the all of the attendees including ourselves poured into the streets to dance where a live marching band played the latest Hindi film songs and boys carried lamps on their shoulders plugged into a generator on a bicycle. The neighbors watched and clapped as the procession made it’s way down the streets of Delhi. The next stop was the mandir to quickly pay our respects and then finally to the hall where the wedding ceremony was to take place. We arrived and began to feast on the selection of tasty Indian appetizers, entrees and desserts. Spirits were lively as the bride finally made her way into the lavish hall. As the bride and groom sat in their respective thrones on stage, we lined up to take pictures with them. When my roommates and I finally got to the stage, I quickly handed my camera to an uncle. As we posed for the professional photographer’s picture, the uncle I handed my camera to aimed the camera towards his own face and looked into the wrong end of the lens, not understanding how to properly use the camera. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the camera was backwards and upside down and in the interest of time we stepped aside. As the night progressed we wondered when the actual ceremony would begin. To our surprise it didn’t commence until most of the guests already left. Not to mention there was constant chatter and background noise during the ceremony. We decided to stay and watch it in it’s entirety and it was quite beautiful. As I sat there during the ceremony, I tried to imagine what it must be like for the couple who hardly knew each other to be entering into a lifetime of love and commitment. The spirituality of it all was quite mesmerizing and we were lucky to behold such an event. Witnessing such a beautiful ceremony made me realize that if I ever get married someday (place your bets), I really want to have an Indian ceremony.

The Wedding Roommates


The Bride and Groom

We were also lucky enough to be around during Diwali. We had a party at the study center that we had partially catered and for which we partially cooked. During the week that led up to Diwali, fireworks were constantly going off. During the night of Diwali we went up to the roof and lit off a massive amount of fireworks. Apparently neighbors try to outdo one another with firepower during Diwali. On the roof it sounded like we were in a war with bombs going off all around us. The experience of being in India was amazing during Diwali. There was excitement, energy and a massive amount of pollution in the air. The air in Delhi is bad enough without the additional smoke from all the celebration. At night it’s getting so cold that I would be able to see my breath if it wasn’t for the incredible pollution.

Z on Diwali with Masculine Sparkler

One of my classes at Delhi University is called an Mphil class which is basically a class for students who have completed their Masters degree and wish to go further in their studies. For whatever reason I am in this class and one of the traditions is to get the professor a present at the end of the course. The students each contributed a hundred rupees each and we bought the professor a calendar, a paperweight and a painting. It is a nice little tradition and part of me is sad that the class is now over.

Professor Trivedi, My Mphil Indian Literature Instructor

It occurred to me today that I have about nine days left in Delhi. Soon I will be taking off for Amritsar in Punjab, Pushkar in Rajasthan, Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and then Southeast Asia. The realization that my stay here is close to over is a difficult one to come to terms with. I will try to maximize the precious time I have left. I will travel as much as I can, while attempting to take in as much of India as possible. Somehow in the midst of the massive poverty, the immense pollution, the unbearable heat and the abundance of illness, I have managed to find a home amongst all of the beautiful people, the rich history, and the busy daily life in Delhi. I am unsure if I’m ready to leave Delhi and I don’t know if I will ever be ready to leave India, but each night before sleeping, I pleasantly entertain thoughts of family and friends in the states.