A Tale of Two Weddings - Part I

Its been two weeks of celebrations and I`m just recovering from two weddings, each of which have been emotionally overwhelming and full of grandeur.
They say - when it rains, it pours!, and what has seemed like a drought has culminated in a grand downpour....for those who are not aware what I`m referring to, this post is meant to update you. For the others here`s the visual treat.
In the past two weeks, My brother (Joseph aka Ouseph aka "The Tiger Man") has finally tied the knot with Japna, not once but twice! Although the two weddings resulted from a request to have one in each in either of their faiths ( Christian and Sikh) I think it is a befittingly grand celebration to solemnize a match made in heaven. I realize that a lot of my readers were not fortunate enough to be able to make it for the weddings and although I cannot recreate the celebrations/ceremonies for you, I wish to briefly describe it so as to give you a glimpse of what it really was like for us.
The first wedding was in true Kerala christian style and held at Josephs home town in Karimanoor, Thodupuzha. The event started off with the arrival of Japna and her relatives in Kerala, the previous day.The bride`s party were housed in two scenic resorts, each located on the banks of the region`s calm and pristine rivers.
The 17th of November was marked as the day of the first wedding. As is customary, the bride and the groom were decked up in their wedding garb at their respective abodes. Once ready, the brides party set out for the church in which the wedding was to be held. St. Mary`s Forane church,Karimanoor, was originally constructed by a priest hailing from the Vattakavil family - a direct ancestor of Joseph by a few generations. Meanwhile the groom left his house after a brief prayer session to meet the awaiting bride outside the church. The couple were then escorted unto the altar by a procession led by flower girls, bridal girls and were followed by the two families.
At the altar the couple were met by the priests, specially requested for this occasion. Simultaneously, the live choir began a melodious rendition of a collection of Christian marriage hymns to provide the ideal ambience for a perfect wedding.
The ceremony itself consisted of a shortened form of what usually is seen at normal Christian Holy Mass. The priest went on to bless the "Thali" and the "mathrakodi". The Thali is a gold pendant which is considered to be the chief symbol of marriage. The manthrakodi is the bridal sari, from which seven strands of thread are taken on the previous day to suspend the thali on. Joseph then tied the Thali around Japna`s neck and the two exchanged rings. The manthrakodi was then placed upon Japna`s head by Joseph, symbolising a traditional protective gesture. Following this and on prompting by the priest the bride and groom exchanged their vows and the couple were pronounced man and wife. Hugs and tears of joy followed from the two families, as we rejoiced in the occasion.
While the bride and groom completed registration formalities, the guests departed to the groom`s house to await the greet the arrival of the newly married couple in grands style. On disembarking from their transport, the couple were garlanded with flowers greeted with traditional Kerala drummers and a fully adorned elephant.
The elephant then led a procession to escort the couple to the doorstep of the brides new home. Japna was then welcomed into the house by joseph`s mother in a brief ceremony which involved tracing the sign of the cross on Japna`s forehead, adorning her with a gold chain and ushering her in with a lit lamp. The two families joined in for a brief prayer before finally being led onto awaiting seats upon a stage.The M.C (Dr. Thomas Jose (Thommu)- a long time friend and cousin of Joseph)then went on to introduce the couple to the guests. This was followed by the bride and groom cutting their wedding cake and mutually feeding each other. Once the two families were introduced briefly in what was Thommu`s unique style, celebration and feasting followed, the likes of which is rarely seen in small Karimanoor town. High tea was followed by dinner and a spectacular dance. I must mention the dance floor was in big demand as the enthusiastic guests and hosts, young and old alike danced the night away with joy.
The dance also included a unique occasion, that involved a dance with all three of us brothers and their fiancee`s (wife in Joseph`s case). A moment to be treasured for the rest of our lives (Thanks Avira for the video.)...and thus in the wee hours of the morning the celebrations halted, more from the compulsions of time rather than spirit, to round off what has been among the happiest days of my life so far.

..but if you think it ended there, you couldnt be more wrong...wait for part II to read about the second wedding in Delhi!

P.S.:
For those wanting to see more (lots more) photos of the event, please click on the following link: http://www.flickr.com/gp/71936641@N00/6sxuPo

Spare a thought for the hungry and improve your vocabulary!

...So, as you and me go about our daily lives choosing and fussing over our food, did you know that about 20,000 people die every day from hunger? There`s not much we can do about it eh? thats what I thought too...but I just discovered theres something you can do..and not just that, while you are doing something about it, you can improve your English voacbulary too..
I came across this site which has a word-meaning-guessing-game in it. Its run by the World poverty site and for every word meaning you guess right, 10 grains will be donated to the Untited Nations World Food Programme. For those who are keen here`s the link : http://www.freerice.com , and for those who are lazy I`m embedding the site below, so what r u waiting for get playing, and make a difference to one more hungry stomach! On my first try I donated 500 grains witha vocab score of 34...can you do better ?
P.S:
Check you score by scrolling right within the embedded page.

Loch Ness - Monster moments.

Hey folks,
For those of you who thought that the earth had opened up and swallowed me, u`ll be disappointed/relieved to hear thats not true. As indicated in my previous post, I was busy writing up my first year report and last monday I just passed my progression viva. So thats a huge tension off my head and now I`m free to post again.
Anyway, the last month hasnt been only about report writing. In between I did head off for a conference in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was an interesting conference lasting 4 days, and I did enjoy most of it, but thats not really what this post is going to be about.When I was done with the conference, I headed down to Stirling to join my cousin, Josi for a few days off.
Josi, just obtained his drivers licence for the U.K, a feat which is quite some accomplishment here. Anyway, we wanted to make the most of it and decided to hire a car and drive somewhere nice and exciting. And to add to that, I had just acquired my new camera (sony DSC H9)and was desperate to test it out at some challenging location....and so it was that Loch Ness ended up as our destination of choice.
For those who are not familiar with Loch Ness , I have loads to mention. Loch Ness is a huge freshwater lake in Scotland.It is about 15 m above sealevel and holds the greatest volume of water amongst lakes in Scotland.It is about 37 km wide and at its deepest point its 230 m deep. The Loch (lake) is also interconnected with several other water bodies in Scotland but its waters are notoriously murky due to the peat content of the adjoining banks, thus making visibilty very poor. Now, you may wonder why im giving you lessons in geography, but thats not the point. The point is all these conditions make it a perfect hideout/habitat for a mystery/mythical creature. A lot of you will know what I`m talking about - "The Loch Ness Monster" (also fondly called as "Nessie").
My first exposure to the mystery of the Loch Ness monster must`ve been in school. I`m not sure if it was in a text book or elsewhere, but I was hooked on first read! Little did I know then that one day I would be right in the heart of Loch Ness (well, atleast on the banks of it).
Reports of the Loch Ness monster being sighted in these murky waters date as far back as the 16th century and continue as recent as the current year. Most people sighting the animal have reported it to be a creature with a long neck and two humps. This has given rise to the speculation that it could possibly be a plesiosaurus - a type of dinosaur. One of the best known proof of sighting has come from a British surgeon who claimed to have caught it on film. This photograph (below)raised a lot of interest in Nessie, but its authenticity has been questioned.
However,several people have caught possible sightings on videos and images subsequently and the mystery continues.
We started of from stirling on a sunny morning aiming to head along the most scenic sights scotland had to offer. Our first stop was at Doune castle. This castle is one of Scotlands best preserved medevial castles. Although it skipped me at that time, I was amazed to learn that "Monty python and the Holy Grail" was filmed here.Anyway after savouring a quick view of its exterior and looking at a picture perfect stream that was tucked away behind the castle, we decided to make a move.
In a short while we were heading up the scottish highlands. The weather started getting cold and rainy, but we were compensated for it by some spectacular scenery along the way. Dotted along the route were several mountains, flooded with greenery and small lakes reflecting the incredible beauty. If it werent so cold, I`d have thought this is paradise!
It was around noon when we finally caught the first glimpses of Loch Ness and since we were`nt looking for a particular point to stop, we were a bit lost. However, as we drove around, my sights were always on the lake to catch a possible sighting of Nessie.

It wasnt long before we chanced upon Urquhart Castle. This castle, or rather the ruins of it, overlooks the Loch Ness and is probably one of the best locations to observe the calm lake for tell-tale signs of Nessie. Built sometime in 1200s, what remains of it is extensively preserved and looked tempting. However after surveying as much as we could from its exterior, we decided to give it a miss due to what we thought were exhorbitant entry tickets!

We then headed up into one of two Loch Ness visitor centres, to sample the offerings there and get our hands on a few souvenirs. Inside, i also chanced to see this news paper clipping of the latest sighting of Nessy - as recent as 5 months back. The footage recorded by this person is currently undergoing analysis.
Its hard not to wonder about the existence of a tantalizingly mysterious giant creature, which ironically is as elusive as anything has ever been. If it truly exists, it probably lives a life of its own down there just like any other creature, feeding, playing, prehaps socialising(, and if it has a mate, reproducing(?)..and if so..that makes it all the more mysterious why there havent been more sightings of such creatures.
while we mulled over these questions, we sampled coffee from the Pibroch whisky bar adjoining the visitor centre. We then decided to call it a day and headed off, but not before we stopped by to actually touch the water that has successfully concealed one of the mankind`s most intriguing secrets.

After stopping to click away at some amazingly beautiful scenery, made all the more spectacular by a perfect sunset, we headed back to stirling humbled by having explored the habitat of something so spectacular. Ideally, I`d have loved to stay on and watch the waters of the Loch Ness for as long as it would take to catch a glimpse of Nessie with my own eyes...after all I am the "Doubting Thomas"!