Saturday, August 28, 2010

An Indian Christian wedding

I had the honor of attending an Indian Christian wedding here in Bangalore last week. The experience was quite different that the weddings I had attended here. Here is the couple ready to walk down the aisle, together.
The ceremony and reception were a mixture of traditional Indian Hindu traditions -- the red sari, tying the thali knot on a necklace as a symbol of marriage, exchange of garlands of flowers -- while some are very Christian -- the wedding mass, signs of the cross while greeting the couple, exchange of rings, the white veil. Here is a video of part of the mass.


Perhaps the biggest difference from the weddings I have attended though, was at the reception. There was still the receiving line, flowers for hair of everyone that wanted them, the dry red kumkum powder for the dot, and great food, but there were meat options as well as veg, and wet yellow (turmeric and sandalwood), and lively music (complete with break dancing).Here's a video, so you can see the stage, the musicians (although not the break dancing that followed), some of the guests, and the welcome table with flowers and other treats:



Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Nandi Hills

Great excursion to Nandi Hills, a hill station just a bit north of Bangalore. The big Hill itself, the rocks and rock formations, and the temples on top of it were quite impressive. Seeing a temple that was built under the Cholas 400 hundred years ago -- so cool, solid, and still standing -- contrasts greatly with much of the modern architecture that requires AC, and seems so shoddily built, that one wonders what progress really means.

View from the bottom:

This was Tipu Sultan's Lodge:
With some nice views:The view from the top.

More proof the post office in India is everywhere:Some of the best signage I've seen in India:



Monkeys everywhere. Unfortunately, taps that were leaking were common too.A temple built into the side of the mountain, with bright buildings nearby.
Some wide and fairly well-constructed stairs for going up and down the mountain to the temple.
One of the water tanks near the top of the mountain.
Boys on the top!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Pizza making in Niagara

While I usually emphasize things Indian, attending to my Italian heritage is also important, so here are hour generations making pizza.
Start with dough from DiCamillo's Bakery, and spread it on the sheet.
Next, get the sauce ready.
The fun part -- spreading out the sauce.
Now, add some cheese.
Take a big chunk of cheese, and grate/shred/cut it into smaller pieces for the top. LOTS of cheese is crucial for this kind of pizza.
Time to eat!

American Independence Day in India

Okay, so I'm only posting this on Indian Independence Day, but between work, travel, and more work, I'm hopelessly behind, so I will try to catch up.

We celebrated the 4th of July by roasting marshmallows and lighting firecrackers with some fellow Americans in our housing complex.

The cutest little American:
More cross-cultural play: a baseball pinata to celebrate a birthday.