Last weekend, I went to a bridal shower for my friend Keerthi, and thrown by my friends Niha and Gagan. It was an amazing experience! I have learned so much about India from Keerthi and several of the other friends who were at the shower, but this felt somehow different. Well, mostly, because of all the beautiful saris!!!! I love clothes from India!
I mostly spent time with some new friends, Vedika and Marisha who are the wives of two of my coworkers. We had some really fun conversations. Vedika is a Hindu, Marisha a Muslim, both born and raised in India, and me a Christian, but from the US. We had some really fun conversations about religion and culture. And of course, about the difficulty of being in a new country away from all your friends. As I start trying to figure out what the future holds for me, I start really empathizing with these sorts of conversations.
Then we ate a giant plate of delicious Indian food. I proudly went to tell Keerthi how brave I was and how I didn't even cry because it was too spicy. She said "yeah, I told them not to make it too spicy." :p Oh well! It was delicious, even if I wasn't as brave as I thought!
Then, after some really fun shower games, Arti sang some beautiful songs for Keerthi to celebrate this time in her life. They translated them for me too so I'd understand, but I was just overwhelmed by the beauty of her voice filling the room, unaccompanied. Then there were some mild attempts at dancing... now... I'm not good at American dancing, but Indian dancing requires a grace and confidence that I simply do not possess. But boy was it fun to watch the others!
It was quite possibly one of the absolute coolest things I have ever done. Thank you Keerthi for letting me part of this day!
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| My coworkers |
