Expanding My Culture

Over the weekend, my uncle got married to the girl on her dreams.  Their relationship was quite unlikely considering she was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  They met in Rolla, Missouri while volunteering at a children’s event at their local theater.  That was eight years ago, and Tom and Shoba’s story is really one of perseverance and true love.  They might have gotten married a lot sooner, but the relationship was not totally condoned by Shoba’s parents as it didn't seem to be the ideal pairing.  Eventually Tom won them over, and now we can officially call Shoba one of the family.  Their wedding was an extraordinary combination of cultures.  It was a two night event with the first being a traditional Hindu ceremony.  While I could not understand any of Sanskrit that the priest used for all of the rituals, it was quite amazing to follow the events with my provided cheat sheet.  Some of the rituals included prayers to the god Ganesh, tying a necklace around the bride’s neck, and the exchanging of garlands.  All of these represented the promises the couple was making to each other or it was to give them luck in the coming years as a couple.  The ceremony was three hours long which is quite short compared to the standard time of several days.  The second night was a standard Christian ceremony but with a couple of twists.  The food was mostly Indian, the sister of the bride put together a Bollywood dance routine, and there was a lot of Indian pop music.  Overall it was really cool to see the meshing of the two cultures, and it was amazing to see Tom and Shoba so happy.  Below I have included some pictures from both ceremonies.