Festivities in our Enclave

Lately there have been a few musical events in the evening at a building on one corner of our small square. Singers and musicians have performed in a tent outside the building for a few hours, and neighbors have strolled by to have a look and a listen. Inside the tent there have been carpets and cushions for the guests and an array of statues of deities displayed on the stage.

Last night, a marching band in crimson and white regalia played on that corner for an hour before we walked out to dinner. (A dinner, which, by the way, was tasty, freshly made, served with courteous service, and cost the four of us less than $10 including the bottled water.) As we returned, the marching band was setting forth accompanied by six or eight young boys about 10 years old holding aloft lighted electric chandeliers, a group of dancing celebrators in fine attire, and capping it all off, a prospective groom. The groom was dressed in white with a Mogul style turban and spangled shoes. He and his two very young groomsmen rode in a white carriage covered with white flowers and pulled by two horses. A rather noisy truck drove behind the carriage, providing the power for the chandeliers.

These two encounters with wedding parties thus far in India may have set Adelaide's expectations of her future wedding a bit too high!

You never, ever know what you'll see in the streets of India--good or bad. The great majority of the time though, it's something colorful, exotic, and unexpected.