As Jo mentioned previously, while we were down in the south of the country we got to go to part of two tribal weddings. We’ve been to one up at the hospital before but this time was a very different experience.
The first wedding was happening on the night we arrived, (from the UK, a journey that included a 7 hour layover in Dubai airport where the marble floors are not very conducive to catching up on sleep!). Some friends kindly let us crash at their house for a couple of hours before our host picked us up and we hopped on a bus to go to the city a couple of hours away where the wedding was going to be. Unfortunately the bus was only half full when we got on and wasn’t going anywhere fast. Apart from the Daewoo most buses here wait till they are full before they go anywhere - I guess you’ve got to get your money’s worth out of the trip. Fine as long as you don’t need to be somewhere by a particular time. After a quick chat with a fellow passenger we decided to hire a car with him to get to our planned destination, a bit more pricey but at least we got there before the wedding was over.
We arrived at about 9pm at the groom’s village in time for the first part of the celebrations, the Mehndi. The bride wasn’t there for this part, I think her family and friends were holding an equivalent celebration somewhere else. Not quite a stag do or a hen party but maybe that’s the closest equivalent. Before any of this though, I had to get into my outfit for the evening, kindly lent to me for the occasion. The families of the bride and groom are part of the Kachhi tribe and their clothes are a bit different from the usual shalwar kameez. Negotiating all the cloth was a little bit tricky by torchlight but the groom’s female relatives soon had me fixed up.
One of the best things was that the food came at the beginning of the evening, usually you have to wait until right at the end by which point you’re beyond hunger. A delicious biryani was served up on pieces of newspaper, (saves on the washing up,) and we all sat on the floor and ate it with our fingers (takes a bit of practice with rice).
Next we had the Mehndi ceremony itself. The groom was sat down and everyone took it in turns to go up, wave some money round his head then put it in a basket, paint some henna on his hand (actually a piece of paper he was holding) and feed him a small piece of mithai (sweet stuff). We managed when it was our turn, I’m not sure we did it all in the right order but hopefully that doesn’t matter.
Then there was the dancing. First a group of girls did some stick dancing (see video below). One of the girls dropped out at the last minute and as it was one I had learnt before I was hastily drafted in. No opportunity to practice first but fortunately I was near the back and the girls kept me in line.
Following this there was a traditional circle dance that everyone could join in. A guy stood in the middle and played different songs on his dhol (double-ended drum) and everyone sang along and danced in a circle around him. The were just 4 basic steps - across, to the side, back and to the side but the men then added a series of crazy leaps, twirls and other flourishes. The women just did the basic step - I’m not sure if this is because that’s tradition or because of the crazy amounts of cloth we were wearing.
After this we headed home, (a mere 3 hours away,) but most of the guests stayed on to then travel to the bride’s village the next day for the wedding itself. It seems like a pretty exhausting thing to do the night before your wedding but fortunately it’s quite acceptable to find a blanket and a corner to sleep in.
Part 2 is here.
