Aligarh and Wedding Celebrations

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Geo: 27.8938, 78.0681

This morning, we went for breakfast in the restaurant, huge big room with just the 4 of us eating! We have a few hours to spare before the start of all the celebrations with a cocktail party. Hanh, Thanh, Clint and myself all decided to go to Aligarh City Centre Point for some shopping, by tuk tuk!! We bargained for 100 rupee ($2.00) to take us the 6 kms to the market. Wow , this was an experience, a lot of people living out on the streets, and just everybody busy with their daily hustle and bustle of their lifestyle. The constant honking of the horns drives you absolutely nuts, it seems everyone is just in a hurry, or impatient!!
The 6km journey took about 30 minutes, lots traffic and always slowing down for potholes and speed bumps!
We passed a market along the way, a very dusty one, but continued to Centre Point, not really knowing what we were going to find. We walked up 4 different streets, not finding any shops open apart from flower shops as it Valentine's Day!! Hanh and I were lucky enough to receive a single red rose!
We found a convenient store open, we went I and bought some snack type foods, different to what we have in Australia, and we bought about 50 packets between us of sweet biscuits to hand out to the homeless and to many of the children along the way. The biscuits were between 5 and 10 rupees, (10 and 20 cents,) so cheap!
We got the store owner said the shops were closed today so we asked him to hail a Pink Tuk Tuk, and as we went along the road back to the hotel, we handed out some of these biscuits. We were like the Pied Piper, kids came from everywhere, all with their hand out asking for more. We saved some for a later time too. Praviin was worried about the 4 of us getting around by ourselves, but we had so much fun experiencing the different modes of transport!!
We freshened up and our driver came to collect us to take us to where the cocktail party was to be held tonight. Sakshi, the bride, was sitting in the middle in the shade getting her right side done with henna, the designs are just incredible and so detailed with each design having special meaning, the more henna you get, shows more love for your partner. Sakshi's henna should take around 6 hours to complete. Hanh and I both got henna done, which takes a while, and again, constantly being offered food a drinks. It was very casual this afternoon, people were still setting up the stage and food area. Once we were finished with our henna, Clint and Thanh went back to the hotel to rest, while Hanh and I were taken to a local ladies market to buy jewellery to go with our dresses for the wedding, we were only looking for cheap, but we had 3 men doing the bargaining for us, as well as Hanh!!
We chose our jewellery then went straight back to the hotel to get ready for the cocktail party. When I got back, Clint was sleeping and couldn't get warm. We were picked up about 7.30pm and taken to the venue, what a difference a few hours make, now fully decorated with lots of colour, music, food and drinks. We sat down and enjoyed the festivities, once again getting fussed over with food and drinks!
Praviin was very much a proud Father, a smile always on his face with so many people around to celebrate with him!
Varun, the groom arrived and there was a very warm welcome for him.
The drums once again sounded, this time to introduce Sakshi, Praviin's daughter to everyone. She looked absolutely beautiful, tears swelled up in my eyes when I saw her, so beautiful.
Varun and Sakshi met for photos, also with family members for photos, then the celebrations really started. A very famous Indian singer, Alisha Arora sang many songs. There were lots of dances with Sakshi's brothers, cousins, and other family members, so exciting to see.
I think Clint is not well, he wasn't wanting to eat, he had a tight tummy....
The food was never ending, so many choices!! Clint did manage to eat some ice cream, he can't miss out on that!!
We said farewell to everyone at midnight and we were taken back to our hotel, the traffic still bad at this time of night. The horns never stop. No wonder we are worn out at the end of each day!!

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Comments

[Lyn]

And we think we are hard done by...

[Lyn]

Wow that must take hours. Looks fantastic

[Lyn]

Not often you see Clint with his shirt out. Can't wait to see wedding garb