The Big Fat Indian Wedding

It had been months since I had wanted to go to a wedding. Enjoy the bright colors, the grandeur, food and the mere excitement involved in figuring out what to wear. I had been dying out to experience all these emotions involved in attending a wedding and not forget the free food! It is such an astonishing fact that we make such a big thing out of weddings, even if they are of a random acquaintance or even an old neighbor. Ladies will start planning for it weeks and months before. Frequent visits to beauty parlors days before the wedding are no strange scenario. Isn’t it amazing that we spend so much time, money, energy and thought over someone else’s wedding, when we know that we are not going to be the centre of attraction there. But I guess the whole ideology in India is such that everyone expects you to be dressed in nines when attending a wedding. Otherwise it would just be a scandal and a hot topic of gossip-y-discussion on the wedding.

There was a time I hated going to the weddings. Wearing that false forced smile plastered on your face. Random people hugging, kissing you and swearing to be your aunties and uncles. And finally when you brace yourself to get the food, the video camera guy suddenly decides to pop up and focus on your plate. All these reasons mounted together and I and my sister refused to attend any random weddings. So life was fun attending just close weddings.

After I left my home and shifted to Mumbai, I began craving the strangest things. I longed to eat the food I hated when I stayed at home and since the last few months I have badly wanted to go to a wedding. I actually missed the loud and over the top fun. So you can imagine it very well how I must have felt when I came to know that I am supposed to attend a wedding that too here in Mumbai and wait for the best part…. My relatives would be joining me for the wedding here in Mumbai. WoW … Right?

So I attended the wedding and it was like soooo relieving and such a nice break from my well, boring life! A farmhouse was booked in the outskirts of Goregoan Mumbai where are the wedding guests stayed and had lots and lots of fun. The days were filled with lots of gossips, fun and Kashmiri food. The nights were filled with some more fun and loud foot tapping Kashmiri music. Exactly what I needed. The wedding was awesome and the food was great. The opportunity to dust off my vanity was also a very welcome change. By now I am sure you guys are dying to see what I wore for the wedding, so here’s a glimpse.  

I kept my make-up , outfit and accessories all very subtle and simple. It was a day wedding and anyhow I don't really like the loud outfits!

Do let me know your views on weddings and stuff

Love:

SEPO

The North, South and the West of it

Deny it as much as you want but it exists. The divide between the North and the South. North Indians feel they are the best, South Indians feel they are the best and the fight goes on. Over the years being a North Indian I too had developed a few misconceptions about the South side of the country. Some are them turned out to be really true, some funny, some lame and others just plain dumb! I am writing a few of them below, they are really good for laughs:

1. Telugu, Tamil, kanada, Malayalam... I always thought it is all the same.
2. South Indians are sincere and hardworking people.
3. South Indians are pure vegetarians and eat food cooked in coconut oil only.
4. South Indian girls always dress modestly.
5. South Indians are generally more studious.
6. They hate North Indians.
7. All south Indians have curly hair.
8. Crime rate in south is almost nil.

I know I am not alone amongst the North Indians in thinking so. There will be many others who feel just the same. In fact the south Indians would have a similar kind of a list for us North Indians as well!This post sprouted in my mind because of a recent development in the PG I lived in. We are a mix of cultures here, with people from J&K, Orissa, Bhopal, Lucknow, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Quite a mix isn’t it? The difference in states and culture was never an issue between us (though it still isn’t, to some extend). After a new girl came from Andhra we suddenly noticed a great change that took place in the PG. All of a sudden we were unknowingly divided into two groups. Yes you guessed it right ~ North & South!

I considered this fight between North and South like that of Girls Vs Boys, which is sweet, adorable and entertaining! Little did I know that what I thought to be superficial was something so deep and serious. I have a habit of generally googling about the topics I intend to write. So while surfing I came across this very awesome blog (http://www.the-nri.com/index.php/2010/12/the-indian-north-south-divide/). The blog post was somewhat similar in lines to what I was planning to write. So far so good. But what caught my attention was the comments on this particular post. If you go through this post of the blog, you will see the hatred and revulsion reflected by people for each other. Reading this spoilt my mood big time. Even in this age people in India are not one. The caste, culture and creed still come inbetween the country’s progress.


Does it really exist or am I blowing things out of proportion?

The Cooking Escapades

Recently I have been hooked onto the food blogs. You should try searching for them some time. They are informative, provide you a sufficient amount of visual pleasure and are a great source of time-pass. Exactly a year back I knew nothing about cooking, all I could cook was Maggie Noodles. However today I can proudly say that I can cook anything (not sure about the results, but I ain't afraid to try). This confidence does count for something right?

I get really happy feeding people and receiving compliments for my cooking! So coming to the post, all the food blogs inspired me so much so that I decided to try something of a similar nature on my blog. Now as I am an amateur and can't really do a proper post on food. So for starters I ll just let the pictures do all the talking :-)

Don't expect grandeur in the pics, the utensils are limited and the time is always tight! So there is no garnishing and no fancy china..! But decent comments are still expected.:P

                  1. The first three pictures are of matar-paneer in various stages of cooking

2. I am no more a lazy bum. I get up and make myself some salad :)

3. My two favorites - matar aaloo and desi french fries!

4. My fifth attempt at making zeera-rice, which came out very well by the way!

5. Maharashtrain style aaloo curry

6. Spicy black channas

7. My (not so good) attempt at making Tom yum soup

8. Amid all those dishes, good old maggie shouldn't be left out right?

9. That was an incredible fruit salad!