Monthly Archives: September 2011
The Great, BIG Indian Wedding Spectacle
Weddings are really huge in India – no matter which way you look at them – their sheer scope, size, budget, variety…
To see how huge, all you have to look at are the proliferation of everything bridal.
Bridal shows, bridal trousseau’s, bridal jewels, and so on.
Wedding planners have become mandatory appendages to every wedding.
After all, each wedding has multiple events.
And each occasion has an unique theme which is carried out in everything from decor to food.
And typically, thousands of guests. So, wedding planners are no longer a luxury, they are a necessity.
Wait! What am I saying? I forget this is India I am talking about, so I simply cannot generalize like this! Let me rewind a bit. I am talking specifically about weddings of the upper classes, and especially those based in the large metros of India.
So, within these classes, with money flowing freely (much almost exclusively in the form of cash that you can touch and feel), weddings are celebrated exuberantly and ostentatiously, the Indian way. Naturally.
The show opens with the wedding invitations. Some are as large as a book. Elaborately created by professional designers. Using hand-made paper, hand-painted or hand-printed. Hand-delivered with sweets, a silver memento or even a designer sari. So, when it starts with a bang like this (i.e. setting the expectations), you can imagine that it has to end with a bigger bang. A much bigger bang! Enough to keep guests talking for weeks, if not months.
The hospitality industry simply thrives during wedding seasons. Grand halls and ballrooms, five-star hotels and up-market restaurants – they all do well. Orchids have become passe when it comes to flowers. Now, people are on the lookout for what exotic flowers can be imported from Singapore or Europe…preferably something rare, that no one has used before. !
Being unique is the name of the game. We are talking Unique with a capital U. God forbid that any concept or design from a previous wedding be reused!
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Want to see the diversity and variety that exists in Indian weddings? These are just a couple of the quick finds of Indian wedding planner websites. Here’s a wedding planner’s website so you can comprehend the range of choices of types of weddings possible. And check out this array of very exclusive wedding plans. These are for destination weddings in Goa, Rajathan, Kerala and the like. What amazing settings!
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Speaking of settings (you know, like in the movies), here’s a rather unique and interesting phenomenon. Bollywood stars also do well during wedding season. They are ‘invited’ – basically, paid to meet, greet and mingle with guests!
At a recent high society elite wedding, several stars were on hand as “guests”. They are also paid (much more, obviously) to perform for the guests.
Shah Rukh Khan himself was the star attraction at a recent wedding celebration. The draw was his dance performance for the wedding guests!
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With all the attention on him and the other mingling stars, one wonders if anyone paid attention to the real stars of the wedding. The bride and groom.
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And, can you imagine Brad Pitt dancing at someone’s wedding in the U.S. for a fee? Wow!
Time to start a new trend, Hollywood…this time by copying Bollywood. What say you, Brad?
I think it’s a rather neat idea because you can always use the proceeds for one of your favorite causes.
If you decide it’s something worth pursuing, how about a bet with me that your first gig will be to perform at an Indian wedding? 🙂
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Offerings By McKay Savage from Chennai, India [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Brad Pitt By Maggie from Palm Springs, United States (Brad) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Mandap By Taxman (Taxman) (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Obama to Congress – Create New Jobs Right Now!
As I watched (a replay of) President Obama’s speech to Congress a couple of days ago, I found myself really missing and yearning for the great US of A.
For the past few months, I have been fairly immersed in and preoccupied with my new life in Mumbai. Politics in India, and the Anna Hazare movement have kept me enthralled. I have been a bit disassociated with the happenings in the US except via the various internet news sources that I scan and sometimes scrutinize. Location does matter after all. Similarly, I would not have been so engrossed in matters relating to India while in the US.
All this garbage about global this and global that, and the connected world is all well and good, and yes, today we are so much more connected than ever before, but let’s not mislead ourselves. Where we physically are present is where we pay the most attention. When that changes, you can assume that virtual reality has become…well, a reality.
Not that I am biased or anything (!), but it was great to hear President Obama sound like candidate Obama once again. His speech has been described as feisty and bold (by supporters, of course). Even Paul Krugman who has been quite critical of Obama’s compromises, had reluctant admiration and appeared to be pleasantly surprised about the solid content of the American Jobs Bill that he announced.
The Bill makes so much sense! The US desperately needs jobs. It also needs better schools and better infrastructure, not to mention needing businesses – small and big – to hire again. The tax cut incentives will help that program. Plus, parts of the proposed $447 billion jobs package have had bipartisan support in the past. Sure sounds like a win-win-win (to the naive at heart).
In fact, the Bill makes so much sense (it has been written in a way that pays for itself by taxing the wealthiest individuals and corporations – is that fair or not?), that I worry that it just won’t pass through the current ultra partisan politics – demonstrated so vividly during the debates about raising the debt ceiling.
After all, which Republican wants to see Obama succeed with this initiative, given that there are only 14 months left until the next election? These partisan politics instead of helping that country rebuild its core strengths are working to make them disintegrate bit by bit. What a sad state of affairs, where politics trumps people and the nation!
Funny/sad too how, today, so many nations are each going through their own independent and unique crises. One can only hope that they – whether it’s the US or India or any other country – will emerge better and stronger, without too much collateral damage, as they fight their way through their messes.
Come to think of it, which are those special countries not currently undergoing large scale crises? Canada and Switzerland maybe? Must be nice indeed.
Meanwhile, despite my misgivings, I will wait with bated breath to see if Congress does the right thing on the American Jobs Bill. I would welcome returning some day to live in a much stronger America than the one I left, in the midst of its severe economic calamity.
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 