The Betrothal

Day 23 - November 3, 2021

Today was betrothal day for Pradeep and Rachel. We woke up early and drove two hours to get to the location. The ceremony was held in a church and basically what happened was the groom's family gave shoes, clothes, and jewelry to the bride to “make her ready” for the wedding. The bride then put on all of those items and came to be presented to her groom. After a few pictures they sat and listened to a message, some songs, and a few testimonials from family and friends. The dress they gave her was a red, orange, and yellow sari with gold jewelry. I did not see which shoes they gave her.

Side note: the photographers here stand dead center between the guests and the stage. Have I already mentioned that? It drives me nuts. But this was the same team I worked with before so it was good to see some familiar faces. They all said hi and invited me to stand with them. I declined but we did banter when there was free time so that was fun. 

The event continues like the reception where every family comes to the stage for a photo and then there is food. During the family coming forward it is normal to pour blessings on the couple's heads with turmeric. The groom was allergic to turmeric. But they kept putting it on his head and he kept shaking it off.

My hosts have started calling the guy who cooks for us my friend and they aren’t wrong. He smiles all day and jokes constantly so we have fun. I’ve also started building a friendship with the nanny and the driver. Tonight on the way home they had me sit up front and the driver and I talked about tattoos, swimming, his family, the girls he talks to, and what motorcycles he’s driven. Due to a lack of English being spoken here I have adapted to reading body language VERY in depth. One of the driver’s things he does when the answer to a question is “yes” but he doesn’t want to respond is to play with his hair. He did it enough times in the car that I called him out on it to which he crossed him arms. I then said he was being defensive and not wanting to tell me his secrets. He started laughing which is a relief because sometimes when I read peoples body language they freak out, but he handled it well and it was all in fun.

When we got back to the house we had some ice cream and then prepared for bed.