We spent our first, formative year out of college basically living with all our QMAP friends. At the time, living involved playing a lot of poker, talking incessantly about black holes, and frequenting a bar called Attic, which sadly exists no longer. It is odd, a little sad, and wonderful to watch each other grow up.
It was entirely wonderful to see our friend get married in Delhi this February. Our friend is Kashmiri, and his family is now scattered -- some in the US, some in Delhi, and others in Doha or elsewhere in in India. A host of friends and relatives converged in a very posh Delhi hotel for two days of wedding festivities.
We got a lot of help in understanding what happened each day, but we are still likely to fumble our explanations a bit. Day one involved henna for the ladies...
...a fair amount of dancing, including an adorable routine by the younger cousins....
...and copious, delicious food. It also happened to be a dry day in Delhi, to mark upcoming elections, which meant our poor friends had to scramble a little for celebrations on their first night. Not to worry -- they set up a hotel room as a sort of bar, where guests converged every once in a while for drink.
The next day was the big event. It was outdoors, under canopies of honeysuckle and roses, complete with a bicycle for the groom's grand entrance.
Parts of the wedding were surprising to us. Guests chatted as the ceremony went on -- luckily for us, chatting included careful explanations of what was happening. And a lot was happening: walnut crushing, mirror-looking, fire circling, some really serious vows in Sanskrit (with possibly wobbly English translation), and a variety of financial transactions knitting the families together. Friendly explanations were not the only talking going on. Here, the officiant takes a phone call mid-ceremony.
Amid the smells of honeysuckle, sizzling cheese, the crunch of walnuts, and the smoke of the fire, the important part seemed to be just about the same: our friends got married.
We approved.
They celebrated that evening in a sort of outdoor fairy land, white lanterns in the trees, and elegant versions of Indian street-food lining a grassy courtyard.
It was a gorgeous wedding.
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