Meanwhile, back on Sarah's Way in Wasilla... (I will return to the wedding and India, shortly, after one more Wasilla-Palmer post)

The night before last, at a little after 9:00 PM, I accompanied Jacob, Kalib and Muzzy on a short walk. And for you, any of my Indian friends and relatives who might be reading this, yes, you read the time correctly. The sun would yet go down, but it never would get dark. It does not get dark here this time of year.

That part of being in India was a little bit hard for me. The days were so short for this time of year. I can take short days in the winter, but come spring and summer, I can hardly bear a dark night. This is a little hard for some people to understand - until they live through an Alaska winter.

As for the mirror, it is attached the baby pack and Jacob uses it to check and see how many mosquitoes might be biting Kalib.

The walk did not begin with the mirror shot. It began right here, on Sarah's Way.

Down Seldon we go.

Then we turned onto Tamar.

Jacob does a mosquito check. The mosquitoes have not gotten as bad as they soon will, but they are bad enough. It is okay. Kalib needs to get lots of bites, so that he builds his immunity and they don't bother him anymore.

Jacob did not agree with my philosophy and wanted me to do my own mosquito checks and brush the little creatures off of my grandson's head.

Back home, Jacob unloads Kalib from the pack.

Kalib spots the dog across the street and heads over in its direction. There are no cars coming, so Jacob let's him, but follows warily. This is one of those pictures that I think you should click on, so that you can see the dog and Kalib's face a little better.

Jacob herds Kalib back to the house, as caught in the reflection of his Tahoe.

Kalib heads for the door.

Anil returns from the temple - the wedding will continue

Protected from the hot sun under the umbrella held by Ganesh, the man who would be his brother-in-law, Anil walks down the stairs toward the temple.

In the temple, he performs rituals, including the drinking of holy water. He prays.

Afterward, Ganesh again gives him shade as he climbs back up the stairs.

The musicians herald his return.

Anil will wed Soundarya. Everyone is happy.

Vasanthi marks a blessing upon his forehead.

All are joyous as they move back towards the door to the hall.

With his mother-in-law about to be at his side and his mother at her side, Anil leads the group from outside back into the hall. The wedding ceremony is about to continue.

Of course, it was never really interrupted at all, and Anil did not have any doubts about going through with it, as the whole cold feet and persuasion episode was just a part of the ceremony, as it has been among his people for a long, long, time.

Groom gets cold feet, chickens out, decides he does not want to marry, flees the scene

Oh no! The groom has decided that he does not want to marry, after all. He leaves the marriage hall.

Outside the door, the horn players announce his exit.

The bride's family wants him to go through with the marriage. He takes a seat.

An umbrella is opened above him. He is showered with flower petals.

The flower petals bring a smile to his face.

After the parents of the bride wash and mark his feet, Soundarya's brother, Ganesh, takes the umbrella. Ganesh will also shower Anil with flower petals.

In a demonstration of her respect, Bhanu marks Anil's feet with tumeric powder.

Bhanu and Ravi team up to give Anil still another foot washing.

Will it work? Will Anil decide to stay and go through with the wedding? Maybe he should go to the temple and pray about it.

Meanwhile, out in the crowd...

I hope I get this right. I have a hard times remembering the names of all the people that I meet right here in Alaska, let alone India. But, I believe the young mother who so adoring looks upon her daughter as she sleeps in the arms of Soundarya's grandfather, Natarajan, is Bharathi, also called Baaru.

I could be wrong. If I am, I am certain someone will let me know.

And this, of course, is Jesse, Melanie and Buddy. 

Blessings for Anil.

The wedding moves on, Anil is blessed by the man and the woman who are about to become his parents in law

The wedding takes place on a platform that is raised about two feet above the hall floor. For the moment, the bride is out of the picture. She is elsewhere, changing her saree and getting ready for all that will follow.

The groom is on the platform, along with the priests (orange robes), Soundarya's parents and the man (on the floor, in white) who is the stand-in for his father, who Anil has not seen since he was very small. He will soon be joined by his mother as well.

I get a chance to take a picture, just before the monster flood light is turned on.

Again, I will not try to explain the significance of every event that I show. My knowledge is too small, and I am certain to make mistakes. Today, Sandy emailed me an explanation of the bangles function and I include it at the bottom of this post, as well as with the original bangles post.*

My invitation stands to all my friends and relatives in India who know to explain. I might add that, although I never got a chance in India to ask a lot of questions and record the answers, since I have been home I have gone onto the internet to find them for myself. The problem is, I find multiple explanations for the approximate same events, and see that in each instance, there are variations not only in those explantions but how the events themselves unfold and the manner in which the rituals take place.

Murthy tells me that this is because most people outside of the culture have a misconception of what Hinduism is. In fact, he tells me that Hindusim is not a religion at all, but rather "complete freedom," a guiding philosophy that none-the-less allows its practitioners to do things however they want.

Hence, the parts of a wedding might be carried out one way in one village or neighborhood and in a very different way in the next, or might change from caste to caste. The caste system of old has officially been done away with and discrimination outlawed, although people are very aware of the castes from which they come.

They do intermarry across castes, as this wedding exemplifies. Sandy and Anil originate in different castes.

Ravi in the process of extending blessing upon the man who is in the process of becoming his son-in-law. I feel blessed at this particular moment, as the flood light is turned off just long enough for me to sneak in this one frame shot in the natural light.

The blessing continues.

Bhanu blesses Anil.

Bhanu's blessing continues.

Ravi and Bhanu bless Anil.

And still another - the little wedding in miniature is brought out. It will remain on the platform floor throughout the ceremony.

Where is Anil? Is he getting cold feet? Nah... he couldn't be! Could he?

*Soundarya's explanation of the bangles function:

"And about the bangles function, 'turmeric' is considered very auspicious anywhere in India. They say that a woman, right from her childhood has to apply turmeric paste on her body. Medical views - it keeps yor skin soft & glows & also prevents a lot of hair growth on the body. Belief  - turmeric & kumkum (the red powder we put on her fore head?) is considered to very auspicious & when ladies bless the bride with it, it's said that she lives with her husband happily for many years. This fuction is more to do with the Groom as he is blessed to live longer. I don't know how well to put this across but in simple words, 'The married couple should live longer & with each other.' Here in India, a widow shouldn't wear bangles or any ornaments, she is not allowed to decorate her forehead with kumkum & is also asked to wear a white saree to indicate that she's a widow.

"So, now I guess you understand why we have that fuction...to bless the bride, praying for her forever happiness with -bangles, kumkum & turmeric?"