Guju Wedding Stories
So i thought i'd be able to put up this wonderful and colorful photoblog about my friend's wedding...but most of the photos turned out dark and blurry. This was due to the lack of lighting at all the venues. Everything was dark except the stage where the performances or ceremonies took place. I'll put it up anyway, to help you imagine what it was all like...just squint a little ok?
We met up with the bride, for a get together before the big day. She tells us that the ceremonies take a total of up to 7 days! Lots of pantang larangs which had to be followed, just to please the elders.
1. The bride & groom couldn't meet each other until the wedding day. Only during family functions.
2. If they really needed to go somewhere together, then they had to be escorted by one member of each side of the family.
3. Everytime they leave the house, they had to carry a whole piece of lime with them.
4. The bride had a black dot marked with black ink on different spots on her face and body to ward of "evil eyes".
5. The bride needs to be wearing "at least" a chain,earrings,bracelets(in gold) at all times.
and the list goes on and on....
My hsemates and I were invited to attend 4 functions.
Function 1: The Mehndi Ceremony
Us: So do we have to get dressed up for the function?
Bride: Nolaaaa, its just at home. You can wear jeans and come.
Us: Phewwww.....cool!
Walking up to the bride's house, we see the tent...(okay..thats normal...wedding hse needs a tent). As we approach closer, the whole outside is filled by the "men-folk" happily chatting away. They all stop to stare a while at us, pause...and continue with their chit-chat. Then comes the part where we peek into the house, to see whats going on...and whadyaknow...all the ladies are decked up in their colorful sarees, lengga's...with their salon-hairdo's and jewellery.
And here we were, a bunch of us dressed in jeans! Damn!!!!Totally under-dressed. Anyway, since we were the bride's best friends, we got to go into the room and sit down with the rest of em'.
The bride sits on a stool in the middle of the room, while mehndi is being drawn onto her palms and feet. People from her mom and dad's side sit on different sides of the room, and play a "song" game. Something like if one side sings a song which ends with "la", the other side has to reply with a song starting with "la".
Dont have any pics from that night, but i really don't know how the bride managed to sit there for over 5 hours to get her mehndi done.
Function 2: The Gaarbha Ceremony
These ppl can dance!Every function involves dancing!The ladies with their sarees! can jump up and down without a single worry that their saree might just fall out!
The gaarbha is some sort of festive ceremony, organized by the bride's side. It starts out with dinner and then we sit and await the performances in the hall.
Everything is done by her uncles,aunts,cousins and friends.
It starts with "receiving the groom" at the entrance of the hall. Once he gets in, then its time for the bride to make her appearance. She makes a surprise entrance for he waiting groom by coming out of a hugeeeee present-like box dancing with the dhandiya sticks(read on for more info on dhandiya). Then, a presentation was made. It was a mixture of flash video's and also a drama played by the brides young cousins about how the bride and groom met.
Then, the fun part starts. We all got to get on the floor and show off our dance moves! At least, thats what we thought. Didnt know that it was gonna be their "folk-dance" and not us trying out bhangra moves! But we were sporting enough to give it a try (we were actually dragged onto the dance floor).
The dancing was no joke i tell you. I think these ppl have been practicing since they were 2!You gotta clap left then swirl, then clap right and swirl...round-n-round-n-round we goooooo..swirling faster-n-faster-n-fasterrrrrrrrrr.....
After a 5 minute break, the dhandiya starts.
Dhandiya is the pair of sticks used for this particular dance. It also has a certain rhythm to it. Click 1, sway, click 2,sway,click 3, sway and turn left. There are 2, an outer and inner, circles. The outer circle keeps going left, and the inner goes right. So you gotta click the sticks with the partner in front of you, and keep changing as we go round-n-round-n round....
Tiring, tiring...but like i said..these ppl can dance. After the folk-dancing stops, then the dj starts playing all the pop/hip-hop bhangra songs and the hall turns into a clubbing scene (even the grandma starts dancing!)
We managed to pull aside the couple for this shot. Jump-jump-dance-dance-STOP!for the camera to click-jump-jump-dance-dance!
Function 3: The Wedding Ceremony
Check out the wedding car man!Real classic Benz...
For this function, we decided to all dress in saree's. My first ever saree! Man, i was sooooo scared it would just drop off, but thanks to gracie's mom!(thanks aunty!) it didnt. She tied it up real tight with lots of pins all over.
As the groom arrives, he is "received" once again with dancing and firecrackers. Oooo, and police escort too!
Inside, the stage is all set for the ceremonies to take place.
Thats the bride and bridesmaids after she garlands her hubby-to-be and rushes off to change into her wedding saree.
Lots of ceremonies took place. Something similar to the Hindu wedding but we couldnt watch everything up close. We had lunch and that was about it.
Function 4: The Reception
This welcomed us at the reception:
We were seated quite far from the stage, but this is how they made their entrance:
There were massice fireworks, performances by the Temple of Fine Arts and a presentation by the grooms side. It was soooo good. Too bad i couldnt take any shots. It was like a typical hindi movie and i have to say that their youth group is really a whole bunch a talented ppl.
The menu for that night(really interesting names):
Appetizers:
Samosa, Spring Rolls, Vege Pakoras
Soup:
Goochi Shorba
Hot Dishes served in Malay Dome:
Moong Dhall Masala(Yellow Lentil
Aloo Matar (Potato & Green Peas in Mild Curry)
Palak Paneer
Vege Jhal Fraghi(Mixed Veg)
Brinjal MasalaChanna Masala(Chick Peas Masala)
Cucumber Raita
Buttered Naan Bread
Zaffrani Kurma(Saffron Rice) & Papadum
Dessert:
Sweet Temptations
Drinks:
Coke, Sprite, Coffee or Tea
Then as the bride & groom made their way to the exit of the hall to wish everyone, the music starts playing again, and the dancing begins.
All in all, it was a great experience. I never thought weddings were this much fun! Most weddings we attend is one major ceremony then a reception and thats it. These ppl have the time of their lives!Dancing and singing...and i can just imagine the size of their wardrobes. To have a costume for each day of the week!for each function!woahhhhh.....
The happy couple should be roaming around the world right now. They've gone for their honeymoon to Europe. Wishing them all the happiness in the world! Cheers!
Fallen Angels
Well, we LOST! It was coming all right...
The players in ESS (my department) for the futsal game were "divided" into 2 teams. All the indians in one, all the malays + chinese in the other(talk about coincedence?dont think so).
We called ourselves the Jakkababies and Angels.
Had a team meeting with the other Angels at 3pm, before we left for Sunway Sports Planet. That place is hugeeee....20 courts i think.
Anyway, luck was not on our side from the start. 5 teams for women, and both! ESS teams were in the same table as the so called "Real Madrid" team...while another 2 were in another table( another coincedence?dont think so!!!!).
First game: Jakkababies vs Angels
Being the trainee in the group, i just took orders on who plays first and where.
They were all so keen on letting this other girl(lets call her "wannabe") be the goalie (although i knew she wasnt all that!)
So fine..pick who you want...and she conceded 2 goals!both from the halfway line!I mean cooome ooooonn-la!!Becks can shoot from the halfway line in footie...not some 2-week-trained non-agile non-professional futsal player!Sheeeeeessshhh!
They only let me play in the 2nd half as a striker...and i did a pretty good job at it...shoving and pushing my way around..but due to lack of back up from the rest..didnt manage to score any goals.
Final score: 2-0
Second game: Angels vs Real Madrid
Now this time...after the humiliation of losing 2-0 by some stupid fluke goals...they decide i should be goalie (IDIOTOS!!!Wasnt i always supposed to be goalie??!!)
So we start off and not that i'm "poyo" or anything..but...I AM GOOD!
I have noooo idea what was going on with "wannabe"..everyone thinks she's a great player(which she aint!). They put her as the striker up front, and she missed about 4 shots on target!!!
Are u kidding me?bloody hell...i'm throwing all the balls right up to her feet...and she misses...imagine the frustration!In the end..everyone was so tired on court..and no one bothered with the defense and i conceded a goal...couldnt help it..3 players charging at me..no chance at all.
Final score: 0-1
So that was the end of the Angels flight. I have to say, it was pretty good playing in a tournament after such a long time. The smell of sweat, heat rub, all the ailment oils, knee guards, dirty smelly shoes..reminds me of those times when i was very active in athletics..damn i miss those days. Its just really fun..the actual competition...i just cant describe the feelings. The nervousness mixed with the "i have to win!" voice at the back of your head. Everyone says "ohh..lets play for fun" but on court...there's just no such thing as fun..everyone ALWAYS wants to win.
We did try our best. Dunno about "wannabe"..apparently she was nervous...BS!!!
We had a strategy..but as soon as the whistle blew, all strategy was forgotten, and we became wild geese. Girls are very VERY ganas i tell you. You have no choice but to give it back to them!
Heck i even mouthed out "b****"..but not loud enough that the referee could hear. I dont even wanna get started on that bloody referee. Idiot wasnt even paying attention to our game! He let in a goal, even when it was clearly and out ball! Mesti kena sogok!!Argghhhhh..this is not helping with my anger management...
Lots of injuries this morning. My collegue has a blue/black toe!Others are limping around with swollen ankles, pulled muscles etc.Poor things. And me?I took a hit on my chin, the the pain waves went up to my ear!So as i'm typing this, my ear feels like its gonna explode any minute!
The Angels decided that we're gonna be having a weekly futsal training, just to get some sort of exercise routine in our busy-busy lives. Might even get to play in another futsal tournament in a month or so. Maybe i'll finish up my industrial training here with a Maxis medal as a souvenir..fingers crossed!
I'm very proud of myself. And the "thumbs up" + "bagusla keeper" from coach after the game...enough to make my day an ultimate "becksangel" day!
1000 apologies
sorry for the lack of posts...i've been really busy ...gotta finish off my work by this friday..
so i'll be uploading all my pics from "the" wedding as soon as i can..
cheers!
Train bugs
Such a bad start to my morning..
Bloody moron in the train decided to listen to music on his headphones but it was soooo loud!!
Like shoving a boom box all the way next to MY ear-drum!I mean...you wanna listen to ur damn songs, fine!The rest of us DONT! Worst of all, it was some stupid "dapangkuttu" songs...geezzzz
Thought i could escape once i changed train..but noooooooooo....some girl pulak comes and sits next to me..and whaddya know?The same "dapangkuttu" shit...what on earth is going on today?
After a few "sighhhhh" 's and attempt to stare out of the corner of my eyes..she gets the point and lowers the sound probably 1/2 a notch?NOT LOW ENOUGH b****!
Forgive me for the cursing...but it really gave me a mild migraine...something i dont want to start a working day with!
p/s: for all of you who don't know..."dapangkuttu" is the word for all those tamil so called "head banging" songs...you dont wanna hear it especially in the wee hours of the morning!
Let the Games Begin....
Yesterday was my first training session for the department's futsal team.
Played at a court somewhere along the road behind Subang Parade..didnt even know it existed.
Anyway, warmed up with just 2 rounds of slow joggin around the court. Then listened to "coach" for a few tips on how to actually play the game. Lots of nodding and then the game starts.
The D-curve which players arent supposed to enter can do so in this very special game of ours.
5 a-side and we take our starting positions. Lets call our teams X and Y:
* start of the game *
As you can see, there's a goalie on either side of the court. And this particular scenario is when team Y is starting the game. 3 players from team X have to stand right in front of the ball, arm-in-arm to try and defend. Woops..i just realised i missed out 1 X player. Nvm, that player just stands around the back like some sort of defender too. Once team Y kicks the ball into play, this is what happens:
* during the game *
A wild goose chase!HAHAHAHAHAHA....it was completely hilarious!The strategy of the game is...there is NONE!Where the ball goes, we're heading there too!Lots of stomping on players feet, pushing, falling to the ground, trying to get up again and air-kicking going on there.
And somehow, someone gets the ball free from this huddle of geese and attempts to score.
Goallll...she screams. Turns out the ball just rolled thru the goalie's legs. How we celebrate?
BURSTS OF LAUGHING of course....joined in by the coach and the opposing team.
HAHAHAHAHA....By the time we hit 15 mins of the game, i'm already completely out of breath and feeling a little dizzy. 15 mins!!Totally un-fit..my chest was so tight i thought it was gonna burst out! After pleading with "T" signs (no breath to ask also), coach let us take a break.
After 5 mins of trying to force some air into my lungs, we get into the court again for the 2nd half. This time i decided to try out for the goalie position instead. Not baddddd, i managed to catch most of the shots..only let go 2 goals. Then came the time when i stopped the ball, and some real "ganas" ladies still wanted to kick the ball out of my hands, and i struggled and accidentally stretched my side.....owwwiiiieeeee....
No other major injuries, and we managed to play another game too!By the time we finished the training session, i was sooooo tired. Couldnt imagine having to drive another 20 mins back to my hse. But it was complete fun!Can't wait for the next training session.
This time, aiming for a flawless victory!
Anger Management
..is something i should definitely consider.
This morning my mom just reminded me of when i was 4 or 5 and attending kindergarten, i bit someone!!!in the school bus. I really cant remember why, but that boy probably really bugged me. Then my sis reminded me that i hit a girl on the head with a bottle!!(the kind that soft drinks came in those days) and i was in lower primary at that time. Later on in higher primary, i can remember how i used to scream and shout at my vice class president. Those arguing episodes later changed to me(as a prefect) screaming at my fellow form mates in secondary school. After year of that, i quit to join my friends and be the anti-prefect gang. Our activities included breaking every rule in the rule book and being constantly called up to be warned that we would get de-merit points on our record.
My my....and now with the road rage...I just cant help being so easily irritated by anything!...am i becoming completely raged??yikes!!!!!
