Monsoon Wedding

Despite the fact that it is most definitely no longer the rainy season here in India, a light drizzle enveloped us as we drove up to the Tamarind Tree, an antique sculpture garden that served as the magical setting for Rushmi and Vikram's wedding. That light drizzle turned into an open faucet by the time the bride was walking down the aisle, and most of the wedding guests were forced to take shelter under a canopied area of banquet tables.

Thankfully for Rushmi, despite what Alanis Morissette defines as the ultimate irony, rain on one's wedding day is supposedly a good omen in Hinduism and in India [as it is in Italy, where the saying goes: sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata.]

By far the best part of the night was the bride's side versus groom's side dance-off. I am proud to report that Rushmi's side won overwhelmingly among all attendees and the DJ, after having to put together a last-minute dance number. Turns out the boys were not just calling our bluff: They actually DID choreograph a Bollywood-style dance routine to "Jai Ho!" from Slumdog Millionaire. We. Were. In. Shock. Thankfully, we are all clever girls who think quickly on our feet (literally) and someone had the brilliant idea to simply do the electric slide. Another girl requested it, and as the person there who had by far attended the most bar-mitzvahs, I was nominated to lead everyone in the notorious slide.

Of course, this being India and all, within moments "Electric Feel" by MGMT was blasting through the speakers. Curses. In any case, we persisted and persevered, and eventually the DJs declared us the obvious winners (I think it helped that we had the bride on our side.) I told Karina that there is way that I will ever be caught in this predicament again, and thus she should start choreographing a dance for my wedding immediately.

Another highlight for sure was dancing and singing along to "Empire State of Mind" as the closing song, around 2:30 a.m. There we all were in Bangalore, having flown in from cities as far-flung as New York, LA, Seattle, Tel Aviv, Shangai, even Addis Ababa, breaking it down to Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes, singing our hearts out to the City That Never Sleeps (um, paging Tom Friedman...)

All in all, despite the rain and the lack of a white horse, it was a beautiful wedding that I am sure all those fortunate enough to have attended will remember fondly for years to come. Congratulations, Rushmi and Vikram!