Cairo, the 12th April, 2010



Indian weddings - INDIA PART V

I noticed indian weddings are an even bigger issue than egyptian/arab weddings!
India has the lowest rate of divorces in the world and that says a lot about the importance and weight of the MARRIAGE institution.

The expenses, rituals and responsabilities envolved in a wedding are such that I think no one would dream of getting divorced after all the hassle and hard work.
Families still decide, at large, who marries whom and the secret, forbidden love affairs of couples from different castes are a popular theme in indian movies and novels.


Quite like in egyptian culture, a marriage is not seen as a love affair but the union of two families, two inheritances, two names and, specifically in India, two castes that should be the same.

The proccess of choosing a bride/groom is extensive and would put the best western detective to shame. Mums and dads investigate their son's/ daughter's proposed partner and scrutinize every little detail of his/her life, even hiring astrologers to make and compare their astrological charts. If there isn't a mininum of compatible points in their charts, the wedding is off as indians think in practical terms of daily and eternal life together.


The adds for groom/bride shopping/choosing in indian newspapers are amazing to observe as you see people sell themselves as products and always refer the caste they belong to as this will define the kind of people they'll atract.


The wedding we attended to was full of colour, loud music and rituals we coulnd't fully understand or follow. The groom was depressingly gloomy but the bride was beautiful and smiley. We followed her from the hotel till the stage where she met her groom and other families members to an endless session of photos.
I didn't find indians so much fun at weddings as egyptian, though...there is a seriousness about indian people that makes them take subjects like a wedding very, VERY seriously. Egyptians have a funnier, lighter way of celebrating it, I thought!


In all the beauty of the party and such, nothing stroke me as much beautiful as the traiditional Benares dress the bride was wearing. Tradition says that the bride should wear a gold embroidered dress from Benares and, by watching this one, I could easily understand why. It was sparklingly, opulently BEAUTIFUL!
When it comes to luxury and beauty indians beat everyone. These guys know about these subjects, I must tell you.

I couldn't help but wonder what kind of life this couple would have.
I was informed they would work on having children right ahead and I mean WORKING because indian marriage is, as much as the egyptian/arab marriage, oriented into DOING BABIES.

So the couple will be pressured in the direction of immediate PROCREATION and the groom will have a cup of milk with spices sitting by the bed in order to make sure all the juices are flowing and he has the power to WORK on the baby subject, if you catch my point! ;)

Kama Sutras and all kinds of sexual street education are available to everyone. Hindus - that compose the majority of indians - are educated in these matters and grow up to be a strange mix between enlightened sex apprentices and horny, repressed people who just can't wait until the wedding night in order to have sex (virginity is a big subject in India, specially for women -of course!!!!!!!!).
Hindu religion is a very realistic one and assumes that human beings are sexual beings as well as the many Gods in their pantheon.
Observing the twisted way most indians live the Sacred and the sick side of their sexuality is something I had a good laugh at and enjoyed learning about.