Ghidul 2 - Magni ceremony

Asa cum am precizat intr-un post precedent, Zahraa prin intermediul bloguletului meu simpatic :), va descoase nunta traditionala indiana in ceremonii (cu exemplu propria ei familie), pentru curiozitatea cititorilor dar mai ales a mea :D Asadar mai jos veti gasi prima ceremonie-Magni.

An idiot’s guide to an Indian wedding

1. Magni Ceremony (formal acceptance for the wedding)

Weeks before the wedding, we had some lovely (and some not- so-lovely) additions to my family. My sisters came back home from America. The first time in five years, my family was under one roof. Along with them we added three maids to our existing collection of two.

Maids are a special tradition in India. Labor is cheap (mainly because there are a billion of us). And to be very honest, Indians are lazy slobs. We’d rather pay someone to do the cooking and cleaning.

Why did we need a battalion of maids in our arsenal? To entertain the zillions of guests we were expecting over the coming weeks. To prepare tea, snacks and everything in between.

Coming to the actual ceremony, Magni is when the bride and the groom will exchange rings. It is like a formal engagement party. Only the immediate families are usually present.

Since the bride’s family hosts it, all we had to do was show up (the perks of being related to the groom!).

The only reason I would even consider getting married in a traditional way is to receive all those presents. Indians really know how to spoil someone.

The bride receives an exorbitant number of presents from her mother-in-law. The opposite is true as well; his mother-in-law spoils the groom too. Not to forget the rest of us, the siblings usually do get a little something too.

During the magni, Haleema received the first set of her presents a saree (Indian traditional dress), a watch, some gold jewelery and a book.

Quick note about how love gold. For every ‘big’ event in my life, such as my birth, high school graduation, I have received gold jewelery. Girls in India own mountains of gold! I think it has to do with the fact that traditionally Indian women were not allowed to own any assets in their name. Whatever little money they had was spent on gold, which they could wear and show off.

Coming back to the Magni, we had a sort of ‘funny’ dinner arrangement. Eight people circle around a passive plate on the floor, and then we’re expected to ‘share’ the plate and eat together. This concept of eating comes from a community called the Bohris. Its quite a weird dinner service, where the dessert is brought in first, and we end with the soup.

This was the calm before the storm. Little did I know my house was going to turn upside down by the time the wedding ended.