Wedding Tradition and Can You be my Father?

 It was an early rise day going to the Chamundi Hills temple and I was ready to enjoy a nice sunrise view.   

Manju picked me up and then we went a block down to pick up Prabu and her mother. Her mother is a cook at a hostel and she just got home and was not ready yet to leave. Therefore, she requested we leave without her… 

As we went up the hill, there was some fog, but the sun was shining right through it. We went by car, but it would have been nice to get that morning breeze on the bike-I am definitely too obsessed with the bike.  

This was a special trip because Prajbu was giving her wedding card, sari, and other offering for the temple for a blessing to her upcoming marriage. This is one of the 7 most holy hills and places in India so people come from all over especially West Bengal and Kolkata.  It took me sometime, but I realized I did visit that place years back…I just kept that information to myself because they like to make things special for me.  

We had to remove our shoes (for a long period of time through a long cue, which I just can’t do anymore especially after the pandemic….And the silver cues all lined up close to each other....we were all so close to one another rushing through each line. Everyone carrying their offering, flowers in the hair, and all the traditional saris and formal wear… 

We finally arrived to the front where everyone was pushing one another and the officer allowed us to go to the side to perform the rituals. The red and the turmeric paste on the forehead and the wedding invite was placed on the table. The sari was given to a certain area downstairs. It was interesting to see what they do before a wedding in the temple-always something new to learn when it comes to Hindu tradition.  

We took some photos, saw some monkeys, and I wanted to put some flowers in my hair…I just want to be a beautiful traditional Indian in every way. It feels like there is always a block because I am a “foreigner.” Even to my family or new friends, it is like “oh that is cute she is doing that”but I want to do it all the time-flowers, mehendi, gold jewelry, beautiful sarees/Indian outfits- 

I want to look like an Indian princess every day…. 

Manju is very quiet, but always smiling and taking some photos-not the best photographer, but he definitely puts in effort, which is sweet. We ended up leaving and heading for breakfast where we went to the most famous dosa place in Mysore (it was actually one of the original spots) and had 2 locations. It was my idea to go there because I read about it online and it ended up being a flop. I felt so bad as I watched them both eat this dosa and they looked miserable. I could not even have mine because it was pure oil and totally burnt. It was awful…so we went to their regular spot and I had an enjoyable Cho Cho bath and coffee- Omg India filtered coffee-the best part of life!  
 

After I finished my laundry, Satish arrived home around 6:30pm and he started cooking. He asked me to keep him company in the kitchen and I wanted to play some nice International music for him, which included Portuguese, French, Italian, jazz, and blues. He loved everything I played…I just sat watching him cook and thinking about how fond I am of him. He is just the best person and talking with him is like an educational journey. He shared with me the differences between the Indian army and US army and he said that he loved his job everyday...everyday in 21 years and he really had no regrets. He traveled to 28 different places in India having to move every 2 years so you do not get too comfortable in one place or start engaging in favortism.” He is grinding up coconut, has the pressure cooker going, and is cooking some beans.. I have no idea how he puts together such delicious food in just 15 minutes…where as most Americans would just cook some pasta with some jar of marinara or some macaroni and cheese…ehh 

Satish….is just like the father I wish I could have….the way he left medicine on the counter for me and said it is his priority to make sure I feel better before I continue onward with my trip. The respect that Indians have for me is reciprocal, but the way I am treated and the things they do for me outweigh anything I could even do or say. They touch my heart in such pure and selfless ways… I just can’t be more grateful for these moments and meeting people like him makes everything totally worth it...no one understands the pain behind closed doors... 

Satish loves movies…and if he likes a movie or series…he will watch it over and over again…He talks about this famous scene from Henry 8 and then recites the most outstanding lines from “Gandhi” where he declares the act for nonviolence in 1946. “An eye of an eye only makes the world blind.” I wish I could just record him all the time to share these moments and the cameras following me full-time would be ideal ugh 

He goes to his friends house to give him insulin…he goes twice a day to help give his friend his insulin shots because his wife is afraid of needles.  

We sit outside in the mornings, reading the Indian times, and drinking coffee…that is it for the day… the same cow passes by the house and he said the neighbor is always feeding him to he keeps coming back for more. They don’t have garbage bins or buckets on the street- the system is so clean, which was started by Modi to promote cleanliness in India….what a successful movement and it made a tremendous impact on India standards of cleanliness.