Organizing a Trip to India - Essay Example

Trip to India It has aptly been viewed that variety is the spice of life, and man looks for adventure and excitement in order to satisfy his curiosity and inquisitiveness on the one hand, and his wander lust on the other. The same is the case with me. Last July, I got an opportunity of visiting India in order to spend two weeks of my summer vacations outside my country. It was really a fantastic traveling that opened many new horizons of knowledge and wisdom before me. Actually the main purpose of selecting India included the visit of the Taj Mahal situated in Agra, which serves as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. The magnificent tomb has been built in memory of the Indian Emperor Shah Jehan’s beloved queen Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631), which is a splendid monument of his unflinching love and devotion for his dead consort. In addition, the monument also depicts the sublimity of Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture. During my stay there in India, I got acquainted with various religious and cultural traits observed by the Indian people. The most wonderful and thrilling incident was my participation in a marriage ceremony of a Muslim family of India. Unlike the Hindu majority population, the Muslim marriage ceremonies share some religious traditions attributed to those of Christian and Jew families, though the shadow and reflection of Hindu culture is also prominent in them to some extent. Contrary to the customs prevailing in the Hawaii and the western world, the marriage ceremony lasts for four to five days, during which the rituals are observed before the departure of the bride to groom’s home. The first day of the ceremony begins three days before the bride’s departure, with the ritual called “maayon”, on which the family of bridegroom visits the bride’s house in order to present green bangles and ordinary dresses of yellow color, which the bride has to wear on till the marriage day arrives. The bride is not allowed to take bath or showers till the wedding day and she remains a bit casual and is not allowed to go outside her house lest the evil spirits make her ill. The young girls encircle the bride, sing songs and perform various types of dances related to their popular culture including qawwali, bhangra, luddi, ghazal-contest and folk dance. (Singh 2002) The women of the families also join the young girls in their fervor and joys during the dance performance. The ceremony usually starts by the evening and ends within three to four hours. The family of bride offers dinner to the guests before their return to their home. The second day of the whole ceremony is called henna ritual or “rasm-e-mehndi” function. This function is either performed jointly by the families of bridegroom and bride or separately at their residences or ceremony-halls have been built for the same purpose. The function begins late at night and lasts usually till dawn. The ladies from the groom side enter the bride’s house carrying multi-colored candles, bouquet of red roses and other flowers, perfumes, multihued sweets in jubilant packing and the dresses and gold jewelry for the bride to be worn on the marriage day. The young girls, in bright ceremonial costumes, divide into two groups and commence song contests with music particularly on “dhol” or drum-beat, which captures the attention of all the participants of the ceremony. Beetle or “paan” is served with tea before dinner, and the supper usually consists of rice with all pulses, which is called “daal-chaawel” in the local language. Daal-chaawel is very popular dish all over India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, and people demand for it in routine and at functions. The dish contains white boiled rice along with various pulses, pickle, plum- ketchup and mint paste. Musical groups are also invited at the mehndi function. During the ceremony, the henna is pasted on the hands of the bride by the relative women, girls and friends of the bride. Generally, no man is allowed to enter the henna ritual, though the traditions are in constant change and this ritual is performed in the presence of both bride and groom. The most important day of the ceremony is the wedding day, when the groom has to take his bride with him to start the new journey of life within marital knot. Unlike the white dresses and see-through head-cover of our Christian traditions, brides use bright scarlet fancy dresses, which is called “lehnga” or long precious embroidered upper and lower along with head cover. She is expected to decorate herself with attractive and costly jewelry according to the latest fashion. The groom goes to the marriage hall, where the ceremony is to be arranged, in the company of family friends, relatives and neighbors, and musical bands and instruments are especially arranged for this purpose. The bride’s family gives very warm welcome to the guests and they are sprinkled with rose petals. At first, the guests are served with fresh juices or cold drinks. Then the marriage sermon is delivered by the religious person, who recites holy verses from the Scriptures (Holy Qur’an). After that so many dishes containing chicken, mutton, beef, custard, puddings and much more are presented. After lunch, the groom goes to ladies section, where he makes sit by the bride’s side. The girls conceal the shoes of the groom and demand gifts from him as a price to get his shoes back. The ceremony ends with the departure of bride with the groom’s family. The parents and siblings of the bride usually cry at the eve of departure while embracing the bride. The last day of the ceremony commences a day after the departure of bride, which is called “valima” function. The groom arranges a huge dinner party in honor of the bride’s family as well as his own relatives, friends and neighbors. By the end of the night, the newly-wed couple departs for the honey-moon at some hill station. All these rituals and activities were quite new and novel for me, which are the unforgettable part of my visit to India. Many a times, blushes of bride and sound of songs strikes my mind and ear, and I remember the remarkable moments spent in India. REFERENCE: Singh, Tejinder. Punjabi Folk Dances: Analysis & Classification (Retrieved in surreyindiaartsclub.com/Punjabi%20Folk%20Dances%20-%20Analysis%20&%20Classification.pdf) Read More