Posted on the Dholrhythms website!
Being a member of Dholrhythms is a bit of a cross between joining a huge extended Indian family and participating on a varsity sports team. So when one of our own got married in June it involved a lot of dancing, a lot of event planning, and a lot of fun. Above is the beautiful bride, Rajni, with her father.
Rajni planned a huge Indian wedding replete with palanquin, bushels of rose petals, bags of rice, a couple of coconuts, and yards and yards of fabric (mostly the guests wore the fabric). Gabriel, the groom, gamely rode a horse during the wedding procession while wearing a turban. Two and a half hours of Sanskrit and some Jewish traditions later, they were officially husband and wife!
Behind the scenes everyone was part of the production process. A surprising number of women, all related to Rajni, ran around directing flower arranging, mandap building, table decorating, and generally event organizing. Suman, Nina, and I joined a crew that assembled thirty floral arrangements in less than two hours. And because we'd made a pact that we'd all, every single Dholrhythmer, wear a sari to the wedding, Binu and Suman spent hours carefully winding, pleating, and draping each of us into saris. That's Lana, Binu, Andrea, Nina, me, Emily, Vicki, and Suman well-outfitted above.
Performances were our collective gift to Rajni. She joined us Friday night during the talent show, which included most of Rajni and Gabriel's very talented bunch of friends. During the actual reception we danced in an orchard where the wedding party had gathered under strung lights for dinner. Vicki, Nina, and Emily specially dyed our shararas a lovely shade of Tang-colored orange to match Rajni's wedding colors. After dinner we of course stayed for more dancing, with Emily and Binu modeling the Tang shararas.
But mostly the wedding was Dholrhythms troupe-family bonding time, a weekend spent sleeping on floors together, dancing and eating together, and celebrating the marriage of one of our members. We all wish Rajni and Gabriel a lifetime of happiness and love.
