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Cousin of the groom

By Savera Karia, age 10 | February 1, 2018

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LONG-LASTING MEMORIES Savera Karia, a fifth grader at Spring Branch Academic Institute, traveled to India for her cousin’s wedding. Here she’s pictured with her mom, Vanya, during the wedding weekend.

Melodious music. Graceful dancing. Delicious food. Beautiful clothes. Unconditional love. Mix all of it up and you will get an astounding experience: an Indian wedding.

All weddings are wonderful, but not many people have the opportunity to see the breathtaking, unique events at an Indian wedding. For starters, they last much longer. Most Indian weddings last three days! Thankfully, we do get small breaks in between to sleep.

On the first night, there is an event called the Ganesh Puja. This is where the bride and groom take blessings from God to destroy any obstacles in their path. During the second morning or afternoon, there is a henna ceremony. On the third night, there are cocktails and a reception.

I went to India to watch my cousin, Rohan, get married. My favorite event was the henna ceremony. All of my female cousins and I had intricate patterns drawn on our hands or arms in a plant-based dye called henna. I also enjoyed the procession. In an American wedding, the bride is escorted by her father. In an Indian wedding, there is a big procession that leads the groom. When the groom enters the wedding hall, he is welcomed by the bride and her family. During the procession, everyone was singing and dancing. There were drums called dholaks, and everyone was dressed up in their best clothes, so when I looked around at everyone dancing, it just looked like a blur of vibrant colors.

Not all of the experience was fun and games, though. All of the cousins, including me, were supposed to put together a dance for the cocktails. We worked very hard. I practiced every day until I was confident that I had gotten the hang of it. When we were about to start dancing, I was so sure that I was going to ace it. But when we started to dance, I completely blanked out! I ended up just copying the cousin in front of me and pretending that I knew what I was doing! Overall, even though the wedding was tiring, it was exciting and a lot of fun. I know that I would definitely go to another one if I had the chance!

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