Boat on the Hoogly (Ganges)
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Vidyasagar Setu during sunset
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Boats parked along the river
Author: nainadg
Blogging...Mommy Style
Bou Bhaat, Phool Sajja
J and I having the giant post wedding lunch or Bou Bhaat
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I am now officially a married lady so I am now serving rice to my elders
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J ate a fishhead a delicacy for the post wedding lunch
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J and I had a Thank you party at an old Club in Kolkata for our closest family.
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A delicious chocolate Mousse cake that we cut at the party
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Phool Sajja or our flower decked bed
Bibaho – The Actual Wedding Ceremony
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Bride
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Groom
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J’s ride
My Mum, J and my FIL. The Bor Jatri (Boy’s family) arrives.
My father offers J many things, he is asking J to marry me.
J accepted, so J and I exchange garlands.
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My father does the Samprodan or Kanyadan (giving away of the bride)
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We make offerings to the fire
Putting puffed rice in the fire
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Did it 3 times
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After J has already put the sindoor on my head, my mum and grandma put it on me as a blessing.
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The end of the ceremony.
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With my parents
Gaye Holud- Morning of the wedding
J and our friend BD smeared in Turmeric. We had a full on water/turmeric (a kind of spice paste)
BeforeI was smeared my mom did my boron or blessed me
Being doused with water after they all got me good. Unfortunately, the groom and the bride can’t smear anyone. This is just a different version of a photo from my cousins wedding. I guess all bengalis have this photo in their wedding album.
Vriddhi – Another pre wedding ritual
Asking my ancestors for blessings
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My grandmother blows a conch
Shaam e Ghazal
Here are some photos from rooftop cocktail party before my wedding. This was just for close family and friends so sort of like a rehersal dinner. This was one of my favorite parties of the year. The setting was the rooftop of my Grandmother’s apartment building. The entire roof was decorated with little lights and there were ethnic umbrellas over the dinner tables. There was an open bar and we had a Mughlai buffet dinner which had roomali roti, mutton rezala and other yummy dishes. The highlight of the eventing was the live Indian band, that sang romantic Urdu ghazals (songs) and some fun songs that everyone could dance. Everyone had a great time
Enjoy the photos. These photos are also from my friend BD.
Before the Party
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On the rooftop
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The Ghazal Singers
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Henna
The 18th evening we had a small and super informal Henna night at my grandparents flat. My mom, my aunts, my cousin and of course me all had our hands hennad, I actually even had henna on my feet too. This time almost every surface on my palms had henna and thankfully I didnt’ have to sleep in them.
Henna on my palm and the back of my hand
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my mom getting henna done
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my mammoni shows off her henna
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My Tauma sings while we wait for our henna to dry
A Mad Rush- The Beginning
All the photos on this post are from my friend BD. All my photos from the first few days were accidentally deleted. Thanks BD for coming through and letting me use your pics.
Getting ready to try on Sarees at a Park street Saree Shop
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Right as we got to Kolkata, I had to scramble to ensure that I had everything I needed for my bridal trousseau. My mom and aunts had purchased most of the stuff but I still had to buy a few more sarees and get my blouses stitched and ensure that I had jewelry to go with all my outfits.
Birla Lakshmi Narayan Temple was on one of daily walking paths. The temple is made of a pale gray and white sandstone and marble.
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The first week, J, KD, BD and I stayed in a Bed and Breakfast flat or Guesthouse, as they are called in India. We had two rooms and use of the living room and dining room and a caretaker who made our breakfasts. We would wake up early in the morning and go on walks and try out different mishti shops (sweet shops) for breakfast. Haldirams, which is a major Indian food retailer had their store very close and we had breakfast there one morning.
Delicious Mishti (sweets) displayed at Haldirams
A Late Start to 08
photo by BD
Wow, who knew 3 weeks could fly by so quickly? It only seemed like it was a few days ago that I left for India and now I’m back in town and starting the first day of school.
There is so much to write and so many photos to post that I almost feel overwhelmed with where to start! J and I had a fantastic 3 weeks in Kolkata, India with our family and friends and we also had a wonderful traditional bengali wedding ceremony.
We arrived in Kolkata on the 17th and spent the next day and a half shopping and getting ready for the festivities ahead. On the 18th, we had a henna party at the grandparents flat, where all the women in the family had henna done on their hands. On the 19th, my family threw a cocktail/sangeet party and on the 21st we actually had our ceremony. The 22nd afternoon we had a luncheon for Bou Bhaat and on the 23rd J and I threw a party for our close family and friends as a gesture of thanks. Finally, all our wedding festivities were over!
The next week J and I spent a lot of time exploring Kolkata with KD and our friend BD and we also attended one of my cousin’s wedding. We also took a day trip to the Kali temple at Dakhineshwar where J and I did a puja in our name and we also visited Belur Math on the banks of the river Ganga. After spending new years with my family J and I took a big group trip to Mandarmoni, a little beach town in West Bengal. It was a fantastic trip , although we were there for a very short time and after that it was only a matter of days before we were heading back home.
I have tried to bread the trip down into segments with photos. Its going to take me a few days to get everything sorted and posted but here’s a start!
Happy Birthday to my Husband
photo: google images
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Its my J’s birthday today, he turns 28. We are not really doing anything too exciting today because I have two finals tomorrow, and also because we are doing a birthday lunch for J during our trip. Our celebration today is J drinking his super fancy scotch and eating his favorite meal of Brats and Baked Beans. What can I say, the boy is just too low key sometimes.
I went to the store today to buy him some cupcakes and decided on the spur of the moment to buy him a card as well. So, for the first time in my life, I shopped in the For Him: husband section. Most of the cards were really cheesy and it was hard to find one I liked but I really wanted one that said Husband in it, just to memorialize this year.
Lets hope J likes it and doesnt’ think its too cheesy.
Orange You Grape 