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A Kannada movie poster |
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| A Muslim Wedding: Mar. 30th |
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| At last! Tonight we managed to make some headway into the
Moslem culture. Nassir, the Moslem furniture maker that Sue has been buying furniture from
(the wonderful dowry box was a Nassir purchase) invited us to his sister’s wedding.
This was in a marriage hall on Infantry Road. I suspect that the astrologers all decided
that tonight was an auspicious time for weddings; there were marriage halls open and
decorated all over town. Sue and I checked out all the beautiful women in their gold and
saris, and then decided to go on a walk, since we were obviously early, and didn’t
know a soul. A block away there appeared another marriage hall. We checked this one out,
and surprise - this one was Nassir’s marriage hall. Inside, I saw an old man with
elephant sized ears in a fez, women in purdah with gorgeous saris underneath, and gold
everywhere. Eventually Nassir’s brother introduced us to his family, showed us his
sister’s wedding furniture (the seven brothers had been working for months carving
the furniture for their sole sister), and then showed us the jewelry gifts. The bride was
escorted to her throne chair, and was given a headdress whose most notable feature was a
ring of flashing red LCDs. The headdress’ considerable weight caused her bowed head
to bow down a little more. Then they gave her a huge gold chain, then more garlands, then
more chains. She was the proverbial pack elephant. The final request was for her to hold
her head high so she could be video taped. Uh-huh. Sure. |
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| I had problems getting out of the habit of namaste’ing
(NOT an appropriate Moslem greeting!). Eventually Nassir’s kind brother taught me to
say "Salaam Alekum" (God is with you), and "Malakum salaam" (and with
you). I still don’t have the hand gesture quite right however. |
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| The wedding dinner was equally wonderful. I met the owner
of Prestige properties, Rezhak Reswan. This was the Bangalore equivalent of meeting Donald
Trump. Discussions ensued about children (can you meet my 17 year old son and talk to him
about computers as a career), art (please come and see my wife’s paintings), and
property development (we both agreed investments outside of your local area were tough to
manage). A wonderful, powerful contact in Bangalore business circles. Finally a chat with
Nassir himself; a promise to teach me about wood-finishing (Nassir is the best
wood-finisher I have seen anywhere in the world, and I would like him to finish the Buddha
head I'm carving); a willingness to take me to a mosque (please bathe first, sir), and a
pledge to teach me more about Islam. At last! I have an entry into the Moslem culture. I
have been depressed all day about how little was happening here in India, and behold; I
have another friend and mentor. |
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| Salaam alekum. |
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