Fish town and Indian weddings

So we got on the train in Ahmedabad and when we got off in Veraval, an older man and his son invited us to tea at their house.  The son had very good English and so we accepted.  It turns out that the gentleman is the ex-minister for the department of fisheries in Veraval and his son spent 6 years over in Australia, which was why he could communicate so well with us.  We ended up spending the next 2 days with the Mehta family, and it was very nice to have some time with a family, if you know what I mean. 

 

There was Andy (or Chirard) and Sweetie.  Andy is 25 and eager, I think, to remember all the English that he learned while he was in Australia.  Sweetie is 23 and just started working for a news channel as a reporter.  Guess who got interviewed? Mrs. Mehta works at the local high school and Mr. Mehta retired last year.  Andy and Sweetie drove us all around the area and we went to the local lion preservation area where there are about 350 lions, and we went on a lion safari to see a few lions and some deer and birds (which we got in for free because Sweetie was the press and we were the interviewees which was a good savings because it was going to be 20.00USD each for us to go) and I got interviewed several times, as did Nathan.  The whole family was very kind to us and we may actually meet back up with Mr. and Mrs. Mehta in Goa, since they are going on vacation there in a couple of weeks. 

 

Gujarat (the state that we are now in) is very, very welcoming.  The Mehtas were extremely kind and hospitable and they say that having guests is lucky, even though they feel bad when some people don't accept their invitations.  Andy says that he was surprised that we did, especially off of a night train.  We had a really nice experience with them.  we got to meet Andy's potential fiancee (they have arranged marriages here, and I tell you, it's more complicated than dating, I think) which was interesting - they wanted us to sleep at their house, but we had already rented a room.  Booja (his potential fiancee) is a nurse at the local hospital.  Andy wants to immigrate to the US, and I told him that if he was married to a nurse, his chances might be quite good.  He found that VERY interesting.  Before we left, he told us that it was 95% that he would marry this girl.  We've been invited to the wedding, whenever that may be. 

 

Yes, marriage in India is a serious and complicated thing.  First the parents troll around to see who is eligible within the caste.  Then, they compare the two horoscopes.  If the horoscopes are matching, then they exchange pictures.  Then, the two people meet and talk and lay everything out on the table about what they want in life, whether there is another potential, what they like to eat, children, future, past, everything.  Then there is a certain amount of talking on the phone, but not TOO much because then you seem desperate (which you are!, says Andy, but you don't want her to know that!).  The families have to be compatible.  The bride's side has to pay for most of the wedding, I think (there is a "toast" to someone that you don't like:  may he have 10 daughters and may they all marry well!) and it can be very expensive.  The oldest daughter in the Mehta family got married last year and received 20 saris from her parents, along with gold and silver and jewels and the wedding has about 6 or 8 different ceremonies and goes on for 3 days.  They showed us some of it, since it was all on DVD.  HUGE affair.  I didn't tell them that we had 60 people at our wedding and I wore a recycled dress!

 

I mean, I didn't even KNOW what I wanted in a man until I found out what I really DIDN't want in a man.  So this arranged marriage thing is quite scary, as far as I'm concerned.  All or nothing.   I don't know what the divorce rate is here, or if there even IS divorce.   So many differences here.  So interesting. 

 

Well, must go to the beach now.  It's 32 degrees and sunny.  We ate fresh fruit salad this morning from all local fruit that we bought at the market. 

ACDB