Ornat’s Blog

Blog #23 Journey to Nagpur

I have to admit, yesterday was the longest day of very little ever. We spent the entire day packing to go to Nagpur. My bag is bulging as I now own about 5 more outfits than I came with as well as 3 extra pairs of shoes… I spent my afternoon lying under the fan as the weather was quite hot, but when we were leaving, it was really cool due to some sort of dust fog brought about by the wind. It’s lovely and pleasant when the wind is blowing as it’s that little bit cooler!

We left the house in Ludhiana not long after 6.30pm. We had SOOO much luggage as the family have things to give to Varun’s family in Nagpur. I was surprised that they had so much for a 3 day trip… We got a sleeper train to Delhi and I have to admit it was a bit of experience. I’ve only been on one sleeper train before – from Krakow to Prague, which was 6 to a compartment. This was similar only the carriage wasn’t split into compartments. Instead, the whole carriage was open and split into compartment proportions sleeping 6 each, and instead of the corridor, there was just an ailse and more bunks all the way along the wall. It was full of noisy kids, families and because the train stopped at nearly every stop, people were getting on and off making noise all night making it very difficult to sleep. The train was going much slower than the usual 4 hour express train that I took from Delhi to Ludhiana the first day, and the whole journey took about 8 and a half hours, we arrived in Delhi shortly after 4am.

I was wrecked coming off the train, and just wanted to get to the airport fast so I could sit down and chill out. It took a while for us to find a taxi that didn’t overcharge. Delhi is so much nicer in the middle of the night, although, it didn’t make much difference to the train station with people sleeping on the platforms waiting for connecting trains. I was surprised to find the terminal for domestic flights was acutally nicer than the international arrivals hall. The toilets were nicer, inside and the airport was just on a whole, rather relaxing. We sat around, had chai, got breakfast, nothing too interesting. Flight was fine. A little turbulance, but with the recent plane accidents in India, I have to admit, I was a little cautious. Flew with Indigo, just another airline. Delhi was quite cool when we left as it was also covered in some sort of dust cloud fog thing, and windy.

Nagpur is HOT. When we arrived at about 10am, it was 40 degrees. Sun is much stronger here than in Ludhiana – even Sangeet got sunburnt over the last few days! Varun’s brother met us off the plane and we stopped off in a supermarket – first one I’ve been to here, as they dont’ have them in Punjab – on the way to the apartment. Nagpur is full of apartments here rather than houses. When we arrived, we were greeted the traditional way and had “breakfast” which was technically lunch as it was noon by then.

We went shopping for a formal sari for Nona as when she starts her MBA next month, she’ll need to wear a formal sari 2 days a week. She doesn’t really wear saris, so she’s going to have to practise! The Sari is basically one long piece of material wrapped around you, so it does actually take a bit of practise to learn how to wear it. It’s very typical for the southern parts of India, and the “suits” are more typical of the north, in Punjab. Everyone speaks Marathi here, so I feel like my efforts to learn Punjabi have been wasted. Although, considering English is the second official language in India, after Hindi, it’s still quite easy to get around.

Once we found a sari for Nona, we walked down the street into our hotel. It’s a “five star facilities” hotel, but doesn’t really have a 5 star feel to it. There’s a funny smell, and the first room we were allocated stank of cigarette smoke, so we moved. The beds are nice, decor in the bedroom is ok, but the bathroom is only mediocre with a really weird smell in it. It’s nice to have a room of my own (even if it is shared with Nona) and OMG we have a shower. I took the first shower since I arrived in India… so nice! All changed into my “suit” for the reception chilling out watching some movie on HBO. I think this day will be all about relaxation considering how busy I’ll be the next few days!!!!

Blog #22 – Shimla & Chandigarh

I planned to write this blog on the bus or the train, but the transport we took wasn’t really so friendly to take out a laptop compared to the transport we took on the way up to Shimla. The last couple days really were a lot of fun. Shimla is located in the western Himalayas, which is the least high of the three mountain ranges that make up the Himalayas. Because we were up so high, it wasn’t nearly as hot as it is in Ludhiana. It felt more like a warm summer in Europe than a summer in the desert… It was definitely a welcome change for all three of us!

Shimla itself is quite touristy. It’s a popular honeymoon spot for Indian couples, as well as just a family place to holiday. I think it’s mainly due to the fact that everyone enjoys the break from the heat. Most of the trip we just posed for multiple photos. My camera battery died very early on in the trip though, and the idiot that I am, I forgot to bring my charger. A lot of the photos I took are on my phone though, and the two girls took loads with their phones also!

When we got off the bus, we weren’t entirely sure where to go or to stay. Nona wanted to ask around for hotels and I was instructed to remain out of sight, as once the hoteliers see a white person, they just see more money, and charge more than what they would charge for Indians. We did this quite a lot over the course of the trip… one of the girls would go ask the price and then beckon myself and the other over so that we could stick to the offer.

There was a guy pretty much following us from the bus onwards. He insisted that there was a hotel that we could stay at for 700 rupees, and I would love the view. He said he could speak fluent English, but found it easier to talk to Nona and Shika about the hotel and the rates. We checked out one hotel, which was 2000 for the night, so we figured we’d check out the other hotel that he was talking about. It was ok, so we stayed there, but didn’t get the really cheap rate. The hotel didn’t have water at all that evening, but rather provided us with 2 buckets that we could use to fill the toilet to flush, and to wash ourselves with… seriously.

Things of interest that we did… we took our photos dressed up in traditional clothes with mountain scenery behind us, I got a pony ride (the horse was WAY too skinny, I thought I was going to break it!), we wandered the streets browsing at the markets, we got coffee, we got dinner, and then we were so wrecked we went straight back to the hotel to sleep. The streets of Shimla are all very steep, so we walked a lot of steps, up a lot of slopes, and spent far too much time (in vain) looking for a new camera battery or a place that would charge my battery for me…

The next morning, we got up fairly early for breakfast. The hotel tried to charge us for the toilet that broke the moment I flushed it. They forgot about it when it came to the actual bill paying. We wandered straight down to the train station to see if we could catch a train. The roads and paths went up a hill and down again, so when we found the actual tracks, we just walked along them to the station.

A train was about to leave when we got to the station, so we just asked the driver to wait while Nona and Shika ran (uphill) to the ticket booth. The train journey cost us a mere 22 rupees each (44c!) which would take us to Sonar. We didn’t want to get the train the whole way as it would take 6 and a half hours to get us as far as Kalka, and then we would have needed to get a bus to Chandigar from there for another hour and a half… the steep hills do NOT make this journey short at all.

We hopped onto the train as it started to move off, and as it was moving so slowly, just ended up posing for a whole load of photos with us sticking our heads out the windows, getting off the train when it stopped etc. At each station, people came up to us to sell us food, so we availed of chai at one point. It was a pleasant journey. Even though we didn’t have AC, the temperature outside wasn’t hot enough for us to be unhappy about it.

Once we reached Sonar, we were a little confused. We hopped on a three-wheeler, or motorised rickshaw (this is a first for me!) to the “bus stand” which was basically just a row of food stands and shops where buses happened to stop. There were no timetables, no indication of when a bus was coming, and when a bus did show up, it usually didn’t stop long enough for you to ask what was going on.

An AC coach for Chandigar showed up about 15 or 20 minutes later… one seat left. Then the non-AC version showed up and we were shoved on. The AC buses are really worth the extra 10 or so rupees.. it just reminded me of coming home during the ash cloud. I was sat down onto a seat (and I was lucky to be sitting down) that was kind of between the driver and the next seat. It was bam in the middle, without any back support, facing backwards looking up the aisle. I think technically it was the conductors seat, but I was allowed to sit there. Luckily, the wind was blowing into the bus enough for me not to want to die of the heat, but as more and more people got onto the bus, it was getting more and more uncomfortable. With every bend the bus took, my entire weight was pushed into the only support I had – my shoulders into the sides of the seats on either side of me.

A guy behind me (near the front of the bus) got off and I managed to grab a seat by the window, but  I sweated the rest of the way none the less while a woman beside me attempted conversation. She was amused by my few words of Punjabi, and insisted on speaking to me in Hindi despite me not knowing anything. She said she didn’t like English.

We reached Chandigarh after 2pm I’d say. Shika knows the area really really well as she goes to University there. The entire city is spread into sectors, as it’s one of the only cities in India to be actually planned. It’s similar to the block style system in the states. They also enforce the rules of the road here, so the streets were a lot less manic than other places I’ve been so far. There was a lot less poverty too. Shika explained that the city was built for the educated people of India, and it’s a very popular city for students.

We had lunch in sector 17, the “happening” sector of Chandigarh, then hopped onto a three-wheeler to the rock garden.. a garden that, as well as rocks, is decorated only with waste material, such as broken cups and plates, or old sockets. The garden was built by a man with one arm also and it was MASSIVE. Makes me wonder how much help he actually had. Here, again, we took loads of photos and had a ride on a camel… all three of us on the same camel – a little terrifying really. Nona and Shika insist that I need to ride on all three of a horse, camel and elephant while I’m here in India. We’ll look for an elephant in Agra…

We had to rush back to the bus station to get the 6.30 AC coach back to Ludhiana. It was all a little manic. There are two seperate queues for men and women, and the men’s queue is about… 20 times longer than the women’s queue… there were many 5 women and 100 guys! Many guys were trying to get the women to buy them tickets. The AC coach was full, so we took another sweaty bus back to Ludhiana… although, this time at least we had seats together, and it was night so the bus wasn’t that hot!

Blog #21 – Bus to Shimla!
Nothing really of interest has been happening the last couple days. I’ve been sleeping a lot, online a lot, Salima had to go home (even I was groggy for that), Sangeet and Varun are heading to Nagpur after a long delay in getting their marriage certificate in time for their US visa interviews so Sangeet can actually live with Varun in the states… I think that’s about it!

On a bus to Shimla, which is a town in the Himalayas. Can’t wait to get there, but I figured I might as well blog about a few things I might not have time to talk about before. Just came out of my first experience of the REAL Indian toilet.. the little squat thing. I’m just thankful I didn’t have to touch anything, but it had to be done!

On my first Indian bus journey too. It’s ok, nothing special. This one has AC so I’m happy enough. Didn’t think we’d be going to Shimla today. The journey is epicly long though as the journey is almost entirely uphill and on windy roads around mountains. The Himalayas themselves are rather dry looking. Nona said that after monsoon season, they’re a really lush green. We’re travelling with Kumat’s sister, Shikah, so it’s all good.

Got up quite early this morning, around 6.30 or so to get ready. We were supposed to be spending the day in Chandigarh, one of the bigger cities in Punjab – it’s the capital of two states! They actually enforce the rules of the road there, and it’s slightly cooler as it’s further north than Ludhiana. We went with Kumad, her dad and her sister to drop Kumad to the airport, and stopped off at the bus station on the way to see what time the buses were leaving for Shimla. There was an AC bus there, so we just hopped on. The journey itself is only about 100km but takes over 4 hours to make due to the mountains, but I hope it’ll be worth it!

We stopped off there for lunch at some roadside café, which is where I got to experience the indian toilet experience… fun times. I hope I didn’t eat anything too dodgy! Eating a bit of chocolate and whatnot – miss Irish chocolate a fair bit. Can’t wait to get to Shimla!

Blog #20 –  Golden Temple & Wagha Border

First day of being a real tourist! We got up rather early, washed up. Didn’t wash my hair though as there’s no shampoo left in the house. Had to choose a rather respectable outfit though as the Golden Temple is one of the largest Sikh temples in the country. I needed to respect their traditions and again cover my head. The drive was long and we had to pick up Varun’s American friend Holly up from Phagwara, the place where all Varun and his guests were staying. We also picked up two of his cousins to bring to the Golden Temple and Wagha border – India’s Border with Pakistan!

I slept most of the way in the car, if not all of it. When we arrived in Amritsar, it was SOOO hot. We were planning to be there well before midday, but we left far too late. We had to take our shoes off, and along the heated marble, you end up burning your feet. There were mats put down on the ground, and water put down on the mats every so often to keep it cool, so it wasnt that bad, but I was so relieved to have my shoes back once it was over.

The Golden Temple itself was an amazing place. It’s a holy place for many Sikhs and they come from all over for a pilgramage. It’s a temple in the middle of water, surrounded by beautiful architecture. You can reach the temple itself by a walkway with a pretty long queue! The queue was worth it though, as you get inside to see all the gurus and all the people who are there for the pilgramage. I felt a little like I was intruding by being a tourist. I saw so few foreigners there, it made me feel more like an intruder than a visitor. Everyone only got about 10 minutes in the actual temple itself, as there were so many people wanting to get in and it’s so small.

After seeing the temple itself, we went to the community kitchen – they call it Lengar – to get some food. Here, hundreds of people waited for food to be served to them for free. Food was quite good – I helped myself to some roti, dal and whatever that sweet rice dish is called! Afterwards, we got some chai when Holly got lost and some really nice guy helped her out. I made my every effort to talk a little Punjabi with him, and although failing, he was quite impressed with what I did have. Another guy smiled when I thanked him in Punjabi. It was a really nice place, everyone was sooo friendly!

We then drove another bit north to Wagha Border – border with Pakistan. Totally didn’t know what to expect here as the only borders I’ve ever been to are European ones and the US-Mexico border. They make a patriotic show of the border here though. Firstly, we had to go through some security, which was a little twisted.. there were 2 security checks – one for men, one for women. The women got a screen, but when searched, basically, the female guard frisked you from the front of your body only.. honestly, I felt quite violated… There are seats build around the gates of the border expecially for the show, as there are at Pakistan too. Again, there were seperate seats for men and for women. It started with people running back and forth with the India flag, and then the show really begun.

I’m not quite sure if standing and sitting in the hot evening sun was worth the show that we got. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I supose the only thing I can remotely relate it to is the changing of the guard in London. The guards just march up and down and do funny kicks and movements, open and close the gates from both sides of the border. Shake hands with the guards on the other side. Take the flags down and carry them away. In the meantime, there’s some guy making some weird sounds down the microphone like “oooooooooh” and then shouting what I assume means “Long live India” and then the Pakistan side do the same and you can hear them shouting away at India. It seems to be a “we’re better than you.. nanananana” kind of thing. There was just so much patriotism in the air, it would have probably been more exciting if I was Indian.

By the time we left our seats (which we were lucky to get due to the “foreign” quota that Nona managed to talk us into), I don’t think I had an inch of dry clothing left. I was literally drenched in sweat, and judging by what the other foreigners looked like, I wasn’t the only one! It was hard to find the guys in the crowds, but we managed ok, and I slept most of the way home again.

We ate in a restaurant, quite a nice one, on the way back to Sonu’s village. We were staying the night there as he was pretty desperate to see his house again, and it wasn’t too far from Phargwara. The house I was staying with didn’t have toilet paper and both Salima and Nona were making fun of how I’m used to toilet paper. When I asked if there was anything particular about the bathroom that was different that I should know about, Salima joked that snakes came out of the tap. There weren’t snakes in the bathroom, she was wrong, but I did see a frog hop out to eat a fly or two….

Blog #19 – Lunch with the Newlyweds & Hindi Movie!

May 21st wasn’t an action packed day like the day before. We were all so wrecked after the wedding that we let ourselves sleepin a bit. We had plans to go to the cinema, so we went down to the West End Mall and booked us some tickets to see “Kites”. It wasn’t until afterwards that I relised that the Hindi movies here don’t have subtitles in English like they do at home… but it would all be in good fun.

While booking tickets for the cinema, we got a phone call to head back to the hotel the wedding was at for lunch with Varun and Sangeet. Again, food was amazing, as always in India. The restaurant was having a bit of a festival for south Indian food, so I got a bit of a flavour for that, seeing as I’m not going near south India at all. Lunch was nice, and Lada told Sonu that he and I were going to have seperate seats from the rest of them, so we just made loads of jokes about that to Sonu.

Cinema in India is a different experience all together. The West End Mall is tight enough on security – you have to be searched upon entering – your bag is checked and they frisk you if they feel like it – you get quite used to it quite fast. Then when you get to the cinema you have to be searched again. They didn’t like the Salima and I had cameras, so they took our batteries while we were in the cinema, we were asked to get rid of our chewing gum, and they took what was left from Nona also. It was all a bit ridiculous, but I suppose they have to be careful. The great thing is that you can get your box of popcorn for about a euro… so I availed quite quickly of that

The movie itself wasn’t as scary as I thought. It was set in the Las Vegas mostly, in the US. There was also a Mexican girl in it who couldn’t speak English, so there would be Hindi subtitles for that. There wasn’t nearly as much Hindi in it as I was expecting – just bits here and there, but I usually got the jist of the storyline as they paint the picture for you on screen as it is.

Kites was about a man, who was a bit of a con artist in Las Vegas, who did anything he could to make a bit of money. He married women so they could get Green Cards, he did a bit of dancing and whatnot. He met a really rich girl who really fancied him and got involved with her mobster Casino family and then fell in love with her brother’s fianceé who happened to be one of the women he married so she could get a Green card. Then the brother found out and they were hunted down til they got to Mexico. It had lots of cars that ended up in the air, turning 360s, and ended up exploding. It had lots of montages of love scenes going back in time, and it had some rather bad acting. All in all, it was fun, and had nothing to do with Kites.

After the movie, we had to rush back home so Lada could pack to go back to New Zealand. Gona miss that guy – he drove us practically everywhere and was always a good laugh. Said goodbye at the gate, and the family and Salima went with him to the bus station. Afterwards, I was so wrecked (still from the day before), Nona and I just chilled out and slept pretty soon after people got home.

Blog #18 – The Wedding!

Got up far too early on the 20th of May for Sangeet’s wedding. It was something like 6am and we had to start with some traditions to prerpare Sangeet for the wedding. Went to the bathroom and I came out to about 20 people standing outside the bathroom door  waiting to get in… part of the ceremony was for Sangeet to be prepared for the wedding, so they had to get her washed and then put bangles on her, and sing songs. There were some bangles that they had put on during the Maiyan that were taken off her and given to the single girls who are due to get married soon – I got 2 bangles, and surprisingly, they fit me!

We rushed off to the beauty parlour to get our hair done. On the way, I was asking how much it would cost for hair and makeup – 4,000 rupees they told me! That’s about €80 – probably similar to Europe prices, if not a little cheaper. The place  we were going is apparently quite well known for their makeup, so that’s why the price was so high. Decided to opt out for makeup and get hair done only.

When I started getting my hair done, I was quite confused about it all. They asked what I wanted, and I wasn’t really that sure, so I said something half-up half-down with curls or something. Next thing I had 2 women curling my hair with a hair straightener only really doing the bottom ends of my hair. I looked like something out of a Victorian drama and was starting to get worried. The main guy came over to have a look and started asking me when I washed my hair.. as it was looking rather “sticky”. I didn’t wash my hair because neither  Sangeet nor Nona had washed theirs that morning either, or opted for a blow-dry before styling… I was feeling rather silly about the whole thing. I didn’t look good with the curls, they were already almost finished and I couldn’t talk to them as they didn’t have English.

Sangeet was ready before Nona and I so she probably ended up spending most of the time getting her wedding dress on. In the meantime, my hair was fixed in such a way that it actually looked ok and I was happy – he brushed the curls out, tied half of it back and away I was in my punjabi outfit. Sangeet came out of the room all in her wedding dress and she was BEAUTIFUL! I don’t think anything really prepared me for how amazing she looked and well… I cried I started to realise that she was seriously getting married and I cried with happiness for her.. We took lots of pictures and then hopped into the car to get to the hotel.

Weddings are done a little differently in India. First you go to the hotel, do a few things, then go to the temple for the religious ceremony. We got to the hotel, Sangeet had to hide out in a hotel room the whole time (although, she was getting photos taken the entire time she was up there) and we had to go down to the wedding hall and welcome the groom and his family… again!

Varun was dressed in a traditional Punjabi suit, with a turban that had strings of beads or pearls (didn’t get that close to him) covering his face. He was also carrying a rather decorated sword. He looked like something from another world. Wasn’t expecting his face to be covered, but you could tell that it wasn’t something he was used to.

Upon arriving into the hall, he was presented with many gifts from Sangeet’s father, uncles, brothers (cousins were used in this case) and when he got to the sisters (all the girls – including me) he had to pay us a fee to get past the family. This is all in good fun – we had a welcome ribbon prepared, and some scissors that were decorated as well. We only charged him 1000 rupees to get past us, which is about €20. The ribbon was cut and him and his family were let in. It was so crowded, with photographers and family members that you couldn’t really get to see much of what was going on. I’d have been able to take more pictures and describe it in better detail otherwise.

Once all the formalities were over, we pretty much headed straight to the temple. I went up to Sangeet’s room to get her moving and was in the same car with her all the way to the temple. She had to wait outside for a while though, while we waited for Varun so we could steal his shoes – another trick that has to be done by the sisters, sister cousins and girlfriends of the bride. He gets them back for a price, of course. However, Varun was smart enough to show up without shoes to the temple. Sikh temples don’t allow shoes inside, so our best chance to steal his shoes would have been at that point, or while the marriage was taking place (in smaller temples they don’t have any sort of security for shoes, you can just trust people).

Sangeet eventually came in, surprisingly. It’s so strange to think that compared to Christian marriages, they’re quite open about the bride and groom seeing each other before the ceremony – Sangeet saw Varun beforehand outside, although, he didn’t see her in the car. I was expecting that Varun had to wait in the hall for her and she would arrive afterwards. However, they met each other downstairs and went into the hall together.

Sikh temples are a little similar to mosques in the way that you have to take off your shoes and cover your head while in the temple. There are no seats – just carpet – and you sit whever you want. There was an alter in the middle where the guru sits behind reading scripture. They also have a musician to play music, as the scripture was read sung. It was quite nice actually. I enjoyed covering my head and being part of it. I didnt’ enjoy the lack of AC, and I don’t think the family enjoyed that either, as they paid for a room with AC…

The marriage ceremony itself may have slightly confused me. Every now and again, Sangeet and Varun would kneel in front of the alter and put their heads on the floor, but nobody else did. They would also get up and walk around the alter, Sangeet folling Varuun holding the end of his turban, which was slightly unwrapped from his head to let a length of the material fall down by his side, which was for her to hold. I asked her sister when they were officiall married and it turned out after they had walked around the alter 4 times.  The end of the ceremony we were given prashat, which is a type of sweet food, not really bound to any form, but rather lumps of it are thrown into your hand (which is rather hot) and you have to eat it. It reminded me a little of communion to be honest, but I’d say it’s something else altogether.

Once the wedding ceremony was over, the marriage certificate had to be sorted. The bride and groom and most of the family went off back to the hotel, but we stayed behind to see the marriage certificate done. Nona, Sangeet’s sister, was sorting it out, and as we were sharing a car with her, we waited. In the meantime, I got to see the main hall in the temple, ate more prashat (turns out if they offer, you are not allowed to refuse – I refused and got the dirtiest look from the guy before I accepted after learning that Iwasn’t allowed to refuse..) and I just spent the rest of the time talking to Salima and Lada. We missed the cutting of the cake, which I suppose isn’t really THAT big a deal compared to everything else going on that day.

When we got back to the hotel, everything was so crowded. There wasn’t really a table we could call our own, but that didn’t really matter. There was music, but no dancing. Sangeet and Varun were nearly almost completely surrounded by photographers and a camerman most of the time as well. I suppose this part of the wedding was really what we have at home, only instead of going on til night-time, once everyone has been fed, it stops, just like it did at the ring ceremony. They started taking down the decorations around 4 or 5pm. The food was amazing though, as always.

We had to go home to finish the wedding ceremonies. The last part was the most emotional part. Varun and his family, with Sangeet arrived at Sangeet’s family home. There, they sat in the living room and songs were sung. This part of the wedding is called Phera Bauna. The emotional part was that the bride and groom left together in what is usually a chair carried by the male family members, but these days is now where the car is pushed away by family members. This signifies the bride no longer being part of her family and now belonging to her new husband’s family. All of her aunts, cousins, her sister, he father, he mother – EVERYONE was crying. I had tears in my eyes too, mainly due to the rest of them crying, but didn’t really cry because most of me knew I would see her the following day. Turned out she came back an hour later, but it was still very emotional for everyone. The second time she left, nobody cried!

Once all the wedding things were over, I decided to go down to the market with Lada on his motorbike. I wanted to get something for my nasty mosquito bite that was getting to cover the majority of my upper arm, and he needed to pick up some things himself before going back to New Zealand, as medicine and persciptions here are a lot cheaper. Wow, the motorbike was just so much fun. At the start, I was just that little bit scared – have never actually been on a motorbike before… not since I was about 5 years old with my uncle, who’s a garda and owns quite a few motorbikes. Anyway, the thing about India is that there are no speed limits, you don’t have to wear a helmet (I wasn’t wearing one anyway) and compared to cars, the wind is blowing to keep you cool. There was just a real sense of freedom, and I got to see parts of Ludhiana I haven’t seen before, which was nice. Passed by an amazing looking hindu temple.

When we got back to the house, we went back out again to the West End mall, as Nona wanted to show her friends a bit of Ludhiana. Everything there was starting to close, so we went to another market in Ludhiana and got some ice-cream, then dropped Nona’s friends to the train station. Before leaving the house though, in the context of the conversation, I tried to hug one of Sangeet’s cousins, Sonu. His reaction was not what I expected – he totally backed away. Turns out, girls and guys don’t hug each other in this part of India unless they’re family members, married, going out (and even then they have to be discreet about it – when they’re going out anyway). This led to everyone making fun of him and myself and I started arguing that it should be ok. Therefore, I hugged both Nona’s friends at the train station (they’re both guys) in a point to prove to Sonu that it was ok.. and then he let me hug him again. Since then, they’ve been making fun of myself and Sonu… which I go along with. They’ve gotten me to propose to him in Punjabi, declare my love to him… ah well, it’s all in good fun!

Mehndi is something that all girls do here before a wedding to “beautitfy” I suppose. really, it’s just a lot of fun, apart from the fact that you can’t use your hands for about 3 or 4 hours while it’s drying and setting in your skin. Sangeet’s family hired some guys to come in and do the Mehndi for all the ladies. I did one hand first, so I wasn’t totally disabled for the first hour or so, then I got the second one done. Most of the girls got both hands done, so we were waited on by one of the guys here.

During the mehndi, a snake charmer came to the house. I dunno, it sjust feels like those things are fairly fake and really, the snake just doesn’t like the music so he ends up hissing and trying to attack the snake charmer. It was entertaining all the same.

We took a nap while the henna dried on our skin and wow, that stuff was hard to come off! We had to use some mustard oil to get it off our skin, and scrape it off with the back of a knife. It started off as an organgey colour, but it’s slowly turning a reddish brown. Can’t wash our hands til tomorrow morning though, as it darkens with time. Sometimes I forget I didn’t have it before today… it’s pretty!

Spent the rest of the evening practising the dance for the ring ceremony.  It’s finally shaping up! We recorded us doing it, and now I see why everyone laughs when I do it… I actually look ridiculous! I’m not nearly as good as everyone else, but I suppose it’s obvious that I’m trying my best to learn!  Didn’t really have time tonight to write up proper blog though, been too busy chatting to people and whatnot. Doubt I’ll have much time the next few days to write things up! It’s going to be busy busy busy busy!