stevenwong.ca

So, in what might be my first chronologically-relevant post since I used to write matchday liveblogs for a Real Madrid fansite, I bring you some of the sights of my ongoing trip to India. Sadly, I’m not able to bring you any sounds (or smells or tastes) since I would rather not spend my time here blogging, but hey, this is what I do for you, my lovely friends and random readers.

And let’s be honest, my pictures do not do justice to what I’ve seen and experienced here so far. My videos wouldn’t. No, the only way to fully appreciate the grandeur and splendour of India in its entirety is to be here yourself.

There are many reasons you should come to India. Maybe you’re a yoga fanatic and you want to check out the real thing. Maybe you’re a humanitarian interested in following the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. Maybe you’re just looking to get away for a while from everything you know. Those are all good reasons, but I can’t think of a better reason to come to India than the one I have: for a friend’s wedding.

Yup, being invited to a proper Indian wedding in India pretty much ranks up there as the best reason I’ve ever had to travel to some place new (right there with my friends Chris and Yvonne’s wedding in Siena in 2006). Not that I’ve ever really needed a reason to go travelling, but it makes it all the more worthwhile.

The bride, Bhavya, is a very good friend I met during my Masters degree study in London, and it’s through her that I know maybe 85% of my Indian friends. They’re a boisterous bunch (that’s putting it lightly), so I was really looking forward to this trip.

As a friend of the bride, I was invited to the small lunch and mehendi day where the girls (and some guys) got their henna tattoos done. There was the sangeeth, a night where both the groom’s side and the bride’s take turns to outdo each other in song and dance (and where I was expecting to be discovered as a new Bollywood star). And finally, there was the day of the wedding and reception, which I can only describe as an explosion of colour and culture.

I’m not sure what I was expecting before I came to India, but whatever they were, they’ve definitely been exceeded so far. In fact, I now need to find myself an Indian bride, just so I can have an Indian wedding too!

As per usual, you can find these and more pics on my Flickr page!