I went to Bina, Madhya Pradesh for a collegue's wedding, which was an overnight journey by train. Shailesh's wedding was a fabulous extravaganza. It all started with the marriage troupe which occupied an entire compartment on the train to Bina, Madhya Pradesh. When we reached the hotel there were barbers provided to give us shaves, and then ironers to iron our clothes and shoe poilishers and so on. We started the marriage procession under a still magnificently full moon and I initiated the dancing. It was my only chance to dance under the moonlight, in the middle of the street mindless of traffic and such trivialities.
It was wild! Maharaja band provided the music, Shailesh's goda (horse)turned into a white gaadi (car), as he was transformed into Prince charming. Money thrown in the air, children running helter skelter to pick it up, gyrating hips, human chandeliers, family feuds and the laughter of a lifetime, as we stopped to have chai on the way to the bride's house.
There were several other stops for water, sweets and more chai in the span of 1 km...which took 3 hours to reach, after which the wedding ceremony took place on a rooftop under the stars, until 5:30 am!
