Culture clashes cannot be more extreme than an Indian-English marriage. It was a privilege to be present during the actual night (most of it) and the dress rehearsal and some of the traditions that take place before a marriage. There was an interesting compromise of traditions on both sides, making a fascinating selection of photos taken in Hyderabad, India and put the icing on the cake of yet another truly epic adventure to the great nation of India.
The love of firework and bangers were, as suspected, present in the proceedings and due to tradition and culture there was no ‘And now you can kiss the bride’.
The stadium setting must have been on the speakers and words were echoed through the speakers making it very hard to hear with strong accents included in that mix. The rich display of flowers, lights and lavish seats was something to behold.
Meanwhile as the outside ceremony continued, cameramen moved around cables snaked across the ground in all directions in a way that would have horrified UK’s health and safety officials! There was so much activity, people moving around and so on, during the actual marriage ceremony; it was so very different to the silence of the ‘special moment’ in most English marriages. As this went on the biggest bats I have ever seen were performing a fly past over the celebration. Dinner was served to the special guests and family at 1.30am after everyone else had feasted. We were even entertained with a slightly intoxicated policeman, who told me that he was a policeman and pointed to his badge, and said ‘I’mm apooliccemannn’.!