India/Istanbul Trip Day 7: Big day for bride and groom (3/3)

Today is the big day, the reason for this huge group of previously unknown people to come together; to celebrate the joining of 2 great people in marriage. We grab breakfast and then Gerard and a few other people come to our room to hang for a bit and have a drink before we go get into our kurta's for the ceremony. We get dressed and meet everyone (except the ladies in the bridal party) in the lobby where we take pictures of everyone looking so dapper (Gerard was straight up regal looking). Head to temple and a 5 man band starts playing music and we all remove our shoes (little girl took G's shoes within a matter of 5 mins which we werent supposed to let happen but we have ways of getting them back) and head into the ceremony area (small, intimate area, which filled up quickly).

The men in the lobby ready to do this thing.

Last day we will be together on this trip.

Beautiful temple we saw on the way to the ceremony.

This looks to be the right place.

Ceremony will be around the side. The front there is the way to lunch after.

The alter with chairs all around it. The men on the floor will do the ceremony.

Gerard talking to an Auntie before the ceremony.

Wedding program pg 1.

Wedding program pg 2.

The bride has arrived. The men with the matching suits were the band.

Happy groom happy life.

Great looking couple!

Exchanging rings.

close up!

Mother of bride with the couple. soon to be mother in law.

Bridal party watching as the ceremony gets underway.

The whole group of people watching on.

Eagle eye of the bride and groom.

The ceremony has audience participation. We are throwing some earthy mixture into the fire.

Throw it all in!

Walking around the fire together. With all the dangly, flammable articles of clothing, this seems dangerous.

Taking first 7 steps together.

Aftermath of the ceremony.

Now they are all family.

As more people trickle in, we are told the bridal party is supposed to sit on the floor on one side of the ceremony area. Now anyone who knows me knows how awkwardly inflexible I am (sitting on the floor isnt comfy or easy for me) and when you combine this with the tightest pants I think I have ever worn (they typically are loose but for the nice outfits they make them form fitting to look better), you have a recipe for extreme discomfort and a bad idea that I had to go along with so I did :) . Ladies walk in and G meets R and the ceremony and rituals begin. There was a game of telephone happening throughout the whole thing (I came to find out the officiant was speaking Sanskrit, translating that to Hindi for R to translate that into English for G. There were definitely some hiccups along the way (G walking too fast in certain moments, missing some throws into the fire, etc.) but nothing too big and overall the ceremony was cool and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After the ceremony, we take bridal party pics real quick while attendees were inside eating lunch then we go to the lunch buffet which had tons of random Indian food that I just walked around and tried things (everything was wonderful).

Bridal party in all their glory.

Take 2.

The gentlemen looking good as always :)

So good Ritika wanted a pic with us.

The lovely ladies of the bridal party.

2 happy friends.

Post ceremony lunch. Left and back were buffet tables, behind this shot was 3-4 fry stations cooking up a few extremely delicious morsels.

The bride has these chandeliers on her wrists she is supposed to hit over single ladies heads. If on of the parts falls off, it is supposed to be akin to that girl catching the bouquet at a western wedding.

If my previous descriptions of colors/patterns of eastern cultures were unclear, this picture should help do it justice. 

Us waiting for the bride and groom to come out.

Victory!

Last ceremonious aspect of the day.

Throwing the rest of the stuff behind her to start her new chapter.

Get out of here love birds!

 After we finished eating and people left, we saw the newlyweds off in a car (we were supposed to push it to get it going as a symbol of some sort) and we get in the shuttle and head back to the hotel where Dre and Shrishma get their stuff packed and head back home (the gang has broken up :( ). I get showered and dressed as we head out to Junction which had an all you can eat/drink deal with our own private bar for 4-5 hours of drinking for 3100 rps each. Not a bad deal and we all hang out for a bit before I explore the area (Junction is a amalgam of restaurants and bars within a single confines) and then go back to our area to keep the party going. At some point, people start leaving and realize we are being ushered back to the shuttles as it is somehow 1am and its time to go. So we get back to hotel and all gather in Ray's room to keep the party going. After a couple more drinks, people start to dissipate and I head to bed as enough is enough and I am tired.

Party bus ready to go celebrate!

India/Istanbul Trip Day 6: Holi and music festival (3/2)

Get some breakfast and then meet everyone in the lobby to head to the holi festival. Step out to get in the buses and the madness begins, people just start throwing powder on each other (there are groups warring in the quad of the hotel just covered in all colors) and of course our group gets involved. Once people are colored, we get in the shuttles and figure out our tickets then head to the park. Wait at the entrance for a little bit (we were early) and get wristbands then we realize the colors are free so people start going up to the check in area and just get handfuls of bags and start distributing them. Naturally this leads to phase 2 of people just chucking powdered color at each other (I have never been happier I brought sun glasses to an event). We are waiting in line to get in and once we enter, there are tables everywhere handing out more color; I am seeing a trend. 

The most empty I think you will ever see these streets regardless of hour/day.

Lady carrying a large sack on her head as she walks down the highway.

Pretty temple near the festival with an interesting name

We made it!

Lets go get checked in and get our bracelets.

Some entertainers came to dance with the guests as they wait to get in. The tall guys would color you but in a very nice, gentle way. It almost seemed ritualistic most of the times, some times just fun.

Wear clothes you don't mind throwing away they said. I now see why.

Just some people throwing powdered color on each other

Stage for cultural music to the left.

Cultural stage with a drum circle going on.

At the festival of colors, find a gorgeously colored flower. Seems appropriate.

The tower in the middle of the park. See what I am talking about?

There were artist painting this mural. It was a constant work. One layer would go on, they would then cover it and paint another layer. Was pretty cool to see it progress over the day. 

The main gang after a series of color barrages. We may be all dirty and colored but we are still smiling :)

The whole gang before we head back to the hotel after a successful holi festival.

We make a plan to meet at a certain area in a few areas to reassess people's feelings on whether we stay so group disperses and we wander around checking out the different stages and the area. Lots of bars set up everywhere, the stages having color cut outs everywhere for shade and there is this archaic/post-apocalyptic water tower looking building in the middle of the park (was exceptionally beautiful in a way). See people getting beer and find out the beer/alcohol is free, but water you have to pay for. So naturally I start getting beers and bouncing around to the different stages listening to the music at each one; one had cultural music (my favorite one by far due to the shade and the amazing music people were performing), one had edm, one hip hop (where I usually ran into the group), and one with a random assortment of music (some of the group would also find their way here throughout the day). It was at this last stage where I tried their Bhang, a supposed hallucinogenic milk they serve during Holi (when in Rome). Had one, nothing ever happened (assume it wasn't real as it was commercialized and in a festival - I bet if you want authentic bhang you need to be out in the streets somewhere) so I stuck to the beer and continued to enjoy the festival walking around from stage to stage meeting people and throwing more color on everyone. We meet up and everyone is tired from being out in the sun for 4-5 hours so we head back to the hotel and get cleaned up (it was incredibly impressive how much color powder gets caked on you and your clothes and your hair - but it is water soluble it seems so we were good). Small group of us go to town hall and finally get seated (last few times it was crowded and we couldn't be seated, today it was empty - probably due to the holiday). Food was good and they had 89rs beers for happy hour while we were there so we grab a few of those while we hang out and talk about the day. We are all tired (some fall asleep at the table) so we close out and head back to the hotel so people can get some sleep and rest up for the big day tomorrow (wedding day).

India/Istanbul Trip Day 5: Guys/Gals day then rooftop meetup (3/1)

We met in the lobby and the guys quickly head to fab india to get some last minute outfits for the upcoming celebrations/events. Go back to the hotel to drop stuff off and then get in the cars to go to Havemore for lunch. They are known for their butter chicken (one of my favorite dishes) so I get that and a mango lassi (first and only of the trip which comes as a surprise to me as I love mango lassis ;) ). After lunch, the guys and girls break up and do their own thing for the day. Our first stop was going back to the hauz khas village area where some of the guys shop around at different stores (some looking for hookah, others just wondering around). After everyone gets what they are looking for, we go back to the social.

The gang is ready to tackle the day

In hindsight, I probably should have taken a pic of the food instead of the menu - it looked much more impressive :)

Some cool art work as we walk around.

One of the many buildings in the Hauz Khas village area - its a tower of bars, they have some walkways on each level so you can get between the buildings. It is actually really impressive.

The guys of the group (and Shrish) just hanging out over some drinks at social.

Everyone trying to figure out what this tub was on the table.

Looks dangerous yet intriguing :)

Shots in a dry ice bath - nice!

Cheers Gerard!

Got a big booth and all of us hang out and drink a little. Eventually they bring some shots in their own little jars in a bath of dry ice. When it is dinner time, we head out and make our way over to the Reggae Hut. It was empty when we got there but filled up quickly as we ate and listened to the music. It was here that I had my first "just ok" meal of trip. I got the rum chicken which sounded and was good but everything else up to this point has tasted fantastic. After we are finishing up there, we see where the girls are at to meet up but they are heading back to the hotel so we meet them there and everyone meets up on the roof terrace and some of the people break out their hookah while others hang around appreciated the nice weather and listening to some music with some drinks. As as hang out, eventually security comes and tells us we have to go inside; we use this as a sign to go to bed as we have a big day tomorrow.

We be jammin!