Hindi word of the day: शादी (shaadi - wedding)

I think this post deserves some extra large pitchas, so get ready. 

Last week Pooja took me to her family friend's wedding, which was spectacular in every way. It was a three-day event (I went to two of the days since the second day is supposed to be boring and Pooja didn't want to go), which is fairly common for weddings in Maharashtra. Weddings vary hugely by state; some are over a week long, some are just a day, all have their own traditions and ceremonies. This one included a mehndi ceremony on Wednesday night, some kind of puja on Thursday, and the actual ceremony on Friday afternoon, although apparently the bride, Sonia, also had a bachelorette party and they were having a reception in Mumbai that weekend with all of the groom's friends (he's from Mumbai and they're moving there). 

The wedding was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. I was obviously freaking out the entire time and Pooja kept getting telling me to calm down. I was surprised to learn that the marriage was arranged. Vikram and Sonia had been dating for a year but it had been set up by their parents with the intention of getting married. During the mehndi ceremony, Sonia's aunt gave a tear-filled speech about letting Sonia go. She said she wouldn't be willing to give her up to anyone other than Vikram and his family, and told us an adorable anecdote about the beginning of their relationship: "Sonia said to me, 'I love Vikram and I haven't even met him yet.'" Maybe it's just me and my silly romanticizing of arranged marriage, but I thought that was adorable.

Anyway, I don't have much else to say, so here are some photos.

The five-star hotel where the mehndi ceremony was thrown.

Naman's mom, Pooja, and me. I was a bit underdressed.

Sonia, the bride. Her henna was spectacular; the groom's name (Vikram) is hidden somewhere in its elaborate design.

Pooja gettin' bangled. They gave away free bangles to all the guests.

Prithi kaku getting mehndi.

The man who hennaed my hands was an incredible artist and was very passionate about his work. He said he'd been doing it since he was fourteen.

Pooja is a weirdo and thinks henna is gross.

For the first part of the party they had a live band and singers. The best part was listening to Prithi sing along to some classic Bollywood songs.

The ballroom rented for the occasion. There were probably about 500 people in attendance, which is a HUGE amount. Mehndi ceremonies were traditionally only for the bride's closest friends and family--and was only for women.

All the couple's friends and family choreographed dances for them  and performed them onstage. Sonia and Vikram joined them for a few--they're the ones dancing in the middle.

Pooja, Naman, and their dads, who have been best friends since college.

Naman's mom helped me get ready for the wedding Friday morning--she wrapped me in my sari, gave me a bindi to wear, and combed my hair into a barrette. We totally bonded and she promised to teach me to make pani puri. I'm stoked. 

Prithi, Ramesh, and Nitin.

Sonia behind the veil of flowers (Vikram is on the other side). Once they pull it down, the bride and groom mount their friends shoulders and try to put a garland over each other's heads as their friends make it difficult by shaking and tipping them.

The new couple!

Decorations in the hotel for the celebration.

Me, Naman, and Pooja. Pooja refuses to wear a sari because she thinks they're uncomfortable, so she wore a fancy salwar kameez. Naman was very proud of his outfit--apparently it's made of a very expensive silk that is traditionally worn by royalty.

The couple receives blessings from their guests and poses for photos. Pooja made me and Naman accompany her to do this.

Vikram and Sonia.

Delicious little treats they gave out in addition to the massive loads of food they served.

Hindi word of the day: गुफा (gupha - cave)

Heyo. This past weekend, I visited some of India's biggest tourist attractions, the Ajanta and Ellora caves. They were amazing, but I don't feel like writing all that much and don't really have any interesting musings, so I'll just upload a bunch of photos and caption them all.

We left Pune at 5 p.m. and got to Aurangabad, the nearest hotel-filled town to the caves, at around midnight. Our driver, Suresh, then for some reason ended up following a crazy rickshaw driver from hotel to hotel around the city unsuccessfully looking for a place for us to stay. Eventually Josh and I just got out of the car and found a hotel. It wasn't the cheapest (not cheap being about 14 bucks for a room in India), but it was pretty nice. That is, until we got into the bedroom. The bed in mine looked great until we pulled back the covers and discovered that they had used one sheet to cover two mattresses--but only over the top, to make it look legit when you walked into the room. Good times.

Suresh took us to this chai place the next morning on our drive to Ajanta. There are places like this all along the roads and they make fantastic tea.

After tea, Suresh stopped at another little dukan for breakfast, which was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my entire life. Yummy potato vada, little fried bhajjia, and jalebi. Nom nom nom--Zach, Stefan, and Amy try their first jalebi.

Suresh dancing along to the Bollywood music he blasted for the entire drive (which was amazing and I obviously loved). He was fantastic and just an incredibly nice person. I hope we have another chance to hire him again.

The caves at Ajanta were amazing--there were 30  caves all lining this beautiful valley carved out of the stone centuries ago as Buddhist temples and meditation spaces.

The cave at Ajanta with the most well-preserved paintings. It was built in the sixth or seventh century.

The best photo I could get of the paintings without using a flash.

You can pay 600 rupees to get carried on one of these rather than hiking because obviously the hiking part is not an important part of the experience.

I loved this cave--it's a beautiful temple lined with incredible carvings.

Zach in front of a giant sleeping Buddha in my favorite cave.

The sunset on the drive leaving Ajanta.

Our next hotel--the most ghetto room I've ever stayed in, but definitely cheaper than the first hotel. And all the beds had sheets on them! (Although there was also some stuff on the sheets that we chose not to pay attention to.)

The next day we went to Ellora, which blew my mind. The carvings in the first few caves were absolutely incredible.

The flower on the ceiling is apparently a lotus, but I think it looks like a sunflower.

Stefan and I checked out an area that was technically closed to entry. Before we got kicked out by a guy who was sweeping out the caves (Zach says it was to clean up bat guano), I got a shot of the amazing painting on the ceiling.

We are tourists.

Suresh paid one of the photographers who stand around to take photos of us as a group for him to keep. We then proceeded to take photos of his photos because they are adorable.

Me and Suresh--he specially requested this photo.

Family photo.

The last temple at Ellora was by far the most spectacular. Multiple stories, incredibly intricate details, and amazing carvings of animals and "amorous couples" (think Kama Sutra), it took TEN GENERATIONS to complete. 

Amazing.

Monkeys outside Ellora.

WINDMILL FARM on the drive back to Pune.

Pollution makes for such beautiful sunsets.

Men making garlands to sell for pooja near one of the places we stopped for chai on the drive home.