India
What the hell can I say about India? I can tell stories, but the experience isn't easily summarized. There is no single neat narrative - there are many narratives, and they are messy.
Probably I should start by putting it in context. Todd's former college roommate, Ravi, is from a Telugu-speaking ethnic group originating in India, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Ravi himself has lived most of his life in the United States, I believe, but his family is still pretty tightly connected to India. His white American fiancee, Sarah, turned out to be willing to do a mostly-traditional Hindu wedding in India. Hence the trip.
Most of the 100+ guests were Indian and, I think, part of Ravi's extended family. But a few of us Americans made it out there. The group (on Ravi's side, at least) consisted of three couples - me and Todd, Paul and Kristen, and Adam and Katherine - as well as Chris, who is currently not seeing anyone. The boys are all good friends from college who still do a weekly game night together, and Adam's longtime girlfriend Katherine is also, I believe, a friend or at least acquaintance from college. Kristen and Paul married last year at a wedding in New Jersey that I attended after a somewhat frustrating search for appropriate attire.
So that was the crew. We met up in NYC and flew out to Mumbai together, spent a couple of days there, flew to Hyderabad for some pre-wedding events, took an overnight train to Tirupati for the wedding itself, and then flew to Vishakhapatnam (Vizag for short) to visit a frail and elderly grandmother who couldn't make it to the wedding. At that point the happy couple took off for a much-needed honeymoon, and we Americans headed to Udaipur, Ranakpur, Jaipur, and Agra to do some sight-seeing before flying out of Delhi.
Yes, we did all of that, went to all those places, in a mere two weeks. I kind of feel like I was there for a month or two, the schedule was so packed. And there are so many things to tell. I think it's all going to have to come out in multiple posts. Next up: traffic, weather, toilets, the proper utilization of resources, and other general India things. Unless I decide to write about something else.
Probably I should start by putting it in context. Todd's former college roommate, Ravi, is from a Telugu-speaking ethnic group originating in India, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Ravi himself has lived most of his life in the United States, I believe, but his family is still pretty tightly connected to India. His white American fiancee, Sarah, turned out to be willing to do a mostly-traditional Hindu wedding in India. Hence the trip.
Most of the 100+ guests were Indian and, I think, part of Ravi's extended family. But a few of us Americans made it out there. The group (on Ravi's side, at least) consisted of three couples - me and Todd, Paul and Kristen, and Adam and Katherine - as well as Chris, who is currently not seeing anyone. The boys are all good friends from college who still do a weekly game night together, and Adam's longtime girlfriend Katherine is also, I believe, a friend or at least acquaintance from college. Kristen and Paul married last year at a wedding in New Jersey that I attended after a somewhat frustrating search for appropriate attire.
So that was the crew. We met up in NYC and flew out to Mumbai together, spent a couple of days there, flew to Hyderabad for some pre-wedding events, took an overnight train to Tirupati for the wedding itself, and then flew to Vishakhapatnam (Vizag for short) to visit a frail and elderly grandmother who couldn't make it to the wedding. At that point the happy couple took off for a much-needed honeymoon, and we Americans headed to Udaipur, Ranakpur, Jaipur, and Agra to do some sight-seeing before flying out of Delhi.
Yes, we did all of that, went to all those places, in a mere two weeks. I kind of feel like I was there for a month or two, the schedule was so packed. And there are so many things to tell. I think it's all going to have to come out in multiple posts. Next up: traffic, weather, toilets, the proper utilization of resources, and other general India things. Unless I decide to write about something else.