By Aminatta, BSILR’13
This past weekend, the 10 of us (along with 3 graduate students from the University of Iowa) were very lucky to have been invited to an Indian wedding. One of the employees working at the SVYM Memorial Hospital in Saragur is the sister of the bride so she acted as our host at the wedding. She was very kind to us all and made sure we had a good time. All of us girls were very excited to wear our sarees to a ceremonial Indian gathering. When we arrived at the wedding we were treated with a breakfast that was full of many varieties of Indian breakfast foods. It is traditional for guests to eat on banana leaves; this was a great experience for many of us because it was the first time we were eating on these great banana leaves. It was a challenge at first but we were all successfully able to keep our food on the leaves. After breakfast, we were all blessed with mendi, which is a red powder dot that is placed on the forehead.
Then we watched the ceremony begin where the bride and groome performed a series of rituals that tied their marital bond. We were each given the chance to individually go up on the stage and bless the bride and groome by pouring what looked like water, turmeric and milk on their hands, which were full with a mound of bananas and leaves. I am sure I can speak for us all and say that it was great to have been invited to this wedding because not only was it great to leave our project sites, but it gave us a chance to reunite and witness a piece of Indian culture in this great wedding season.
From left to right: Shannon, ILR'13; Aminatta, ILR'13; Samrawit, HE'13; Alexandra, ILR'13; Aarti, HE'13; and Chelsea, ILR'12.
From left to right: Kevin, ILR'13; Marko, ILR'13; Aarti; Aminatta; Samrawit; Shannon; Chelsea; Iowa grad students (3); Alexandra; Jessica, HE'13; and Henry, HE'12.
Then we watched the ceremony begin where the bride and groome performed a series of rituals that tied their marital bond. We were each given the chance to individually go up on the stage and bless the bride and groome by pouring what looked like water, turmeric and milk on their hands, which were full with a mound of bananas and leaves. I am sure I can speak for us all and say that it was great to have been invited to this wedding because not only was it great to leave our project sites, but it gave us a chance to reunite and witness a piece of Indian culture in this great wedding season.
