A Lee Wedding!

I'm at home! The journey was pretty uneventful, except that I had to wake up and leave the house by 4:45am on Friday morning and it was strange being out so early! The airport was pretty chaotic. I actually flew OUT of Bombay for the first time in a long time so I was a little clueless about how it worked so I had to run around a little to get my bag x-rayed and also get myself to the right gate to get on my plane!

It is really good to be home though. I love this house (so much light and I don't feel like I'm stuck in a time-machine about fifty years ago...) and being with my parents!

Yesterday was pretty eventful. Independence Day for India (and S. Korea!) and I also went for a wedding in the evening! AJ's brother, Phillip got married to a wonderful Indian girl, Grace. AJ was my classmate at Hebron and still is a good friend so his mom kindly sent me an invitation to the wedding! I was not at all expecting to be able to make it because I am technically supposed to be in the middle of term in Bombay but thanks to the recent and unexpected turn of events I happen to be in Bangalore so I went! My lovely sister-in-law, D and another close friend from Hebron, Grace accompanied me and I am so grateful to them for coming!

I think you know Dinah, Grace and Me! The girl in the blue saree is Hanalee - AJ's big sister who lives a rather adventurous life in Iowa! She's a fellow-blogger too and a friend of another blogger friend - Kari in France.

I thought it would take us a long time to get to the venue cause it was pretty far out but by the time we started making our way there after I picked D up from her apartment it was around 3:20pm and we reached half-an-hour early (4:00pm) at the venue! But that was actually a good thing cause we got nice seats near the front.

L: Ruthie, Grace and Hannah
R:The newly-weds - Grace and Phillip who, as you can see, is a LOT taller than his bride! :D

The wedding ceremony was really beautiful. The couple was so incredibly happy it was heart warming! AJ's dad conducted the ceremony and spoke about love and significance of marriage and the 'Lee-ladies' were looking really pretty in ethnic Indian clothes!

AJ was the best-man and did a good job being of service to his brother so he was pretty busy throughout the evening and we didn't really get to talk to him much. He also gave a little speech about Phillip which was really funny and sweet!

Grace, D and I with the bride and bridegroom and AJ.

We enjoyed a yummy dinner and met with the Phil and Grace and the rest of AJ's family and then made our way back home around 8:30pm. I am really glad I got to experience this wedding. It was a long-shot for me to be in Bangalore this weekend but somehow things fell into place... :)

Both Grace and AJ are leaving early Wednesday morning. Grace will be going back to Korea after her long summer-break and AJ will be going back to Iowa but hopefully I'll be able to catch up with them once more before they leave.

More later,

Toodles!

A Wedding to Remember!

So I attended a beautiful wedding yesterday at Christ Church in Byculla (which I found out was built in 1833!). My friend, Lydia from the Bombay Baptist Church (BBC) in Colaba was the beautiful and ecstatic bride!
The ceremony was really beautiful and the love that this God-made couple felt for each other was just so palpable. Unfortunately I didn't reach in time to see Lydia walk down the aisle and I didn't manage to a get a good seat so there aren't many good photos of what happened during the ceremony... The church band was playing some rocking worship songs when I entered and then after that was over, Pastor Jo from BBC who was conducting the ceremony called upon Lydia's parents to give her away and then Johann (the bridegroom's parents) also came up and prayed for the couple.
Lydia and Johann sang a beautiful song for each other:
I cherish the treasure
The treasure of you
Lifelong companion
I give myself to you
God has enabled me
To walk with you faithfully
And cherish the treasure
The treasure of you

Pastor Jo asked them if they would take each other as husband and wife and they said: "I will, with God's help" and then they exchanged their own personalised vows and gave each other rings as token of these vows and then they were married!We then moved on to the reception ground which was just next to the church building. Lydia's brother-in-law and Johann's sister were the MCs for the night and they were quite funny! The night was filled with song! Both families are very musical apparently and it was just so great! The first song was sung by two guys from BBC to the newly-weds and then the newly-weds and their respective siblings together sang "Because you loved me" by Celine Dion dedicating it to their parents.
Then there was the toast...
And then, my personal favourite bit of the evening - Lydia, who sings beautifully - sang "You light up my life" to Johann! Can you see the smile on his face? He had no idea she was going to do that and it was just to-die-for-beautiful.
After that, Smriti and I went and met the couple and gave them their gift, ate some delicious food hurriedly and ran out because Smriti had to get back to the hostel by 8:30pm by hook or by crook and I didn't want to delay too much cause I had to head back home in a SAREE and HEELS by the local trains alone...
Of course, I made it and let me blow my trumpet a little and say that I am proud of myself! :P I wore my heels after a whole year and while women travel by local train in sarees everyday like its second nature to them, I can count the number of times I have worn a saree on my fingers, so this was quite an accomplishment!

Vote of Thanks:
Sonu: For lending me her gorgeous saree!
Jo's Mommy: For draping the saree for me!
My Granny: For finding me a kind old tailor who stitched my blouse in a day for 40 bucks!
Jo: For doing my make-up and setting my hair - I'm hopelessly inexperienced at such things!
Lydia: For inviting me to the wedding and allowing me to join in their joy and seeing how God works things out so marvelously in His perfect time! Check out their website.

I am so grateful for the people in my life and that includes you, dear reader!

P.s. Learn how to drape a saree here! (I love the internet!)

For Dada and D

Give Thanks...
- For phonecalls from the US: One from my aunt and cousin in Philly and the other from one of my best friends Tashu who studies at Taylor University in Indiana.
- For the Christmas break fast approaching: 8 days to go!
- For good music.
- Good teachers
- Green Tea and McVities Digestive biscuits!
- For my brother and sis-in-law in Bangalore (Dada and D) who are celebrating their 2nd Anniversary today. I can't believe how fast time flies! I wish you many many many many more years together filled with joy, understanding, forgiveness, patience, humility, trust, truth and all those other things that constitute love. Happy Anniversary!

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
Love is patient, love is kind, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Some photos from a fantabulous weekend!!

The fun never ends when we have friends!!

Grace and Niru were the only two of my friends who could make it to the wedding and I was sooooo glad they could come. I thought of you all too. Sushi you would have absolutely had a blast at the reception with all the dancing! We kept saying, "man I wish Sushi was here!" Anyway, here are some pics with Niru and Grace...

dressing up at home... what deja vu! it seemed like grad all over again!

drama queening!
namaste!

so HAPPY!

Us with our wine, which tasted surprisingly nice!!!

at home being all desi the day D came home...

Niru standing by our pieces of "art"! We woke up at seven in the morning to paint the floor!

Vivaha

Vivaha means wedding by the way... and it also means something else which I have forgotten. Anyway my brother and D got married this weekend and they are now off on their honeymoon. It still seems a little surreal. They're married!!!!!! Wow. The ceremonies went off realllllllly well and the reception was a LOAD of fun. I danced my way through the night with my main partner - NIRU! And other people. I have loads of photos of course but blogger and lots of photos don't go too well so I will try and figure out a way of uploading them more conveniently and then will let you all know...
Later,
Love,