So today I am going to a friend’s wedding here in Mumbai and building up the courage to tackle my sari. Not an easy task and I am thinking I may need to call in the professionals to get the job done. It looks easy on youtube but I’m not nearly coordinated enough to pleat my own skirt and throw it over my shoulder stylishly. I know, I know you would think, I, committed lover of scarves and pashminas could drape a sari but sadly it is not meant to be.
However I digress…I had the unique opportunity to see Mumbai through the eyes of babes last night and it made me step back a bit. My fellow Canadian friend, Michelle, has decided to marry her fiancé in a traditional Indian wedding. She has only been here a few months so I give her all the credit in the world for taking on that challenge. So many of her friends and family have made the long journey over to help her celebrate and for most it is their first visit to India. Michelle and her fiancé threw a pre wedding cocktail party last night in their apartment. They hired a local event planner to organize their wedding including this cocktail party. It really was well done; decorations draped from the ceiling, flowers highlighting the entrance, bartenders and bar ready and waiters serving canapés off of silver platters. Very tasteful and elegant and perfect really. Now let me get to the fun part… the planner arranged to have a professional Bollywood dancer teach all of the guests to dance Bollywood style right there in the apartment. Everyone, with the help of a few flaming Sambucas, of course, were more than willing to get up on the floor and shake it with the best of them except for me and 2 other women who have lived in Mumbai for awhile. Unfortunately, the novelty of Bollywood has worn off for us. Innocence lost once again. I envied that feeling of excitement and thrill knowing that this would be a memory they will take back home with them as a memento of the time they spent in India. I remember that feeling well from when I first arrived. The bright colours enveloping the streets, the crazy sights of birds, dogs and cows all eating from the same garbage dump, the thrill of the first elephant sighting in the neighbourhood. I know I was writing home with just sheer amazement that I, Heather, little ol’ girl from Hamilton, Ontario was now amidst the vibrant culture of India. I loved that feeling. I felt the same when I moved to China. It’s a great feeling, a fabulous feeling and I am just so sad that it has disappeared.
So my new mission is to find the wide eyed, awestruck Canadian girl again somewhere in the streets of India so I can appreciate all that surrounds me. Well, look for it behind the cows, dogs, goats, birds and garbage dumps, of course.
