Am I becoming an Indian?

Each day seems so long at times, yet the time flies before I notice that it's December! I am on a return train back to the lovely and sleepy town of Thanjavur after spending a long weekend with Erin and Geoff visiting Taj Mahal and the Agra fort. During this trip with Erin and Geoff, I've noticed that I am almost like half Indian. The reasons are listed below. 

• I no longer require toilet paper.
• I can eat with my hands now. I still can't do rice with hands, though.
• Hot shower is a luxury, not a necessity
• People don't stare at me anymore, They assume I'm from Northeast of India or Nepal (not even China). 
• I don't see any problem with making 2-lane street into 6-lane street
• Traffic lights are just annoyance, you don't need them.
• Not sharing the street with the animals is just selfish. When there were no goats while I was in Delhi, I felt lonely. 
• I believe squatting for #1 and 2 have anatomical advantages.

There're many other reasons why I am only half like I can't wear Sari, I can't speak Hindi, tamil or any other Indian languages, or I can't stand cockroaches. When I spend about 2-3 more months in India, I'm sure I will become a true Indian. So this was just a thought and I will post my pictures from Taj soon.

Punjabee Wedding

Me in a Punjabi suit in a Punjabi pose

http://picasaweb.google.com/shewhodares.wins/PunjabeeWedding# Click this link for More Pictures!!!

So I finally "crashed" an Indian wedding in India! This was one of my things to do while in India. Technically, I couldn't crash since I was invited. First of word that comes to my mind is BLING-BLING. These people know how to dress up, play hard and work hard. My friend's family is one of the most hospitable people you could every meet and I still am so grateful for them to take me in and make me feel like a part of their family. It was definitely one of the most memorable weddings.

Raj in her wedding gown, so pretty

 The wedding ceremony goes on for three days, the first day was to get their hands henna done and other fun girly things that i missed. My hands were done later by one of the cousins...

My hand with Henna

 The second day starts with the bride's family all going to the groom's family. There was a Sikh service, food, then more food, then more and more food. The evening of the second day is when the women from the groom's family come to dress up the bride. The wedding is on the third day and it's BUSY and has lots lots of food. 

The newly wedded couple

The in-laws dancing and spreading money to each other

Me in another Punjabi suit

Throwing the rice backwards for prosperity before heading out...

After the wedding and reception are over, the bride and groom walk out together. The bride throws the rice backwards for prosperity for her family, then goes with the groom's family. I got sad because it felt like she was leaving her home to become a part of the new family.... Anyway, it was AWESOME!!! I plan to crash many more Indian weddings!

Nicest uncle and friend's dad!

Jalandher and Back

So it's been a while since my last entry, it is not because I don't have anything to say or do anything fun. It's because the opposite. I've been busy traveling to Punjab (it's one of the northern states in India for those who don't know India geography). I went to a friend's wedding there. The wedding needs a whole new blog page so that will be posted separately. I would like to discuss about traveling in India!!!! Before I begin, I would to emphasize that I love India! 

But traveling around sometimes is not easy. Few examples here;  My morning at the airport started with a bunch of rude ladies cutting the line in front of me for the luggage x-ray. I was so aggravated that I pushed one of them with my backpack, but she didn't even flinch. On the way to the Delhi train station, the traffic was horrendous and the taxi driver reached over, opened my door and told me to get out and start walking because he wasn't going to drive in the traffic anymore! I basically told him off in English which I doubted he cared or understood.

View of the Delhi the train station platform

But all in all, this was not a bad trip, I guess. I was not ass groped, did not miss the stop, met some nice people whose son kept singing Justin Beiber's song the whole 6hr ride, and yelled at drunk men who were making passes at me. I do, however, continue to ask, India! why? Why can't we be on time???