Saris, Successes and Surprises!

Today was a day filled with saris, successes and surprises!  Our content for the workshop today was quite heavy and included participant presentations demonstrating four learning styles.  The participants worked very hard all day.  They really engaged with the girls education discussion and did presentations the included a play, exuberant singing, posters and a brief to the minister.  It was all great fun!

Today was sari day for Deb.  The ladies had gone out and purchased a sari and all the accompanying jewelry for her.  At tea time, they whisked her away to their hotel room and dressed her in her new red sari with matching bangles, chain and earrings.  She looked great.  Everyone applauded when she entered and then the endless picture taking began!  Deb was overwhelmed with their kindness.  She was also told they expected her to wear her sari to the wedding tonight, which she did.  Here she is:

Due to the wedding, presidents of local teacher associations from all over Orissa are in town and of course they all had to pop in to our workshop to see Ram Pal Singh and Dr. Singh.  We had a constant stream of people and media folk wandering through the workshop today.  At one point, we stopped everything and asked the new folks to please sit down and stay out of our way.  Coincidentally, every one of them showed up just before lunch - true politicians and media folk in every way!

After work we checked into a new hotel.  It is in a better part of town, has a real coffee shop and is a bit newer.  It certainly isn’t much cleaner or well built.  The bonuses include wifi in our rooms and endless hot water.  We noticed on the way over that our old hotel was about 200 yards from a shanty village.  I also had an opportunity to get a shot of an average home on the way over.

At 7:30 a car showed up and we were on our way to the wedding.   This is wedding season and everywhere we drove there was a wedding reception under way.  We were met at the entrance to the wedding by the bride’s father, Kumlau, who is the president of the local teachers’ association.  They brought us in and proceeded to treat us like royalty.  There were pictures with the bride and groom and then we were seated at a table with Ram Pal and Dr. Singh.  Different presidents of teacher associations and other teachers were coming to meet us and get pictures taken.  I’m sure most of them will look at those pictures a few years from now and wonder who we were.  All of the participants from the workshop were there as well as some from the Delhi training.  It was fun to bump into people we knew from somewhere else in India!  Because all of our participants were there, we had about 30 people bringing us food, drink and escorting us around the wedding site.  They sort of took turns mother henning us through the crowds.  The area was the size of two small soccer fields.  All around the outside were stalls serving different food items – fresh cooked naan, mutton, vegetable curries, daal, paneer, chicken skewers, various deep fried wonders and a dessert like timbits in sugar sauce.  There were about 85 different thinks to eat.  Murray and I managed to sample most of it.  Because we were guests of honour, we were shepherded to the front of every food line. It was a very odd feeling.  There was a live band, a platform for the bride and groom and about 2000 people milling about.  It was loud, joyful and a great time.  They really know how to throw a party in India!  We were there for about two hours and it felt like 20 minutes.  Everyone is incredibly friendly and we chatted with many people we didn’t know.  Everyone we met asked, “How do you feel in India?”  The response they expect is, “It is very pleasant”, and it is!  I still marvel at their generosity, kindness and how they watch over us so carefully.  Here are some shots from the wedding:

Kumlau, the bride's father

The Bride and Groom

Each white gate is a food stall with 2 - 3 items

These people were wrapping anise, spices and sugar in leaves for breath mints

Great outfit!

Tish and me and a few thousand new friends!

As we left the wedding, we encountered a wedding procession that was bringing the bride and groom to their reception.  All of the processions are the same.  There is a band at the front, followed by a large group of people dancing with cars holding the wedding party at the end.  Penning them all in are people with bright lights on either side.  There are lights like you see on floats at either end.  I have a great video of one we passed on the way home.  When they saw our cameras, they danced all around our vehicle!  It was hilarious.

As I type this I can hear fireworks going off at intervals from all of the weddings being held.

It was a great day in every way.  Tomorrow, our participants are to begin their presentations.  Hopefully, they’ve done their homework, but we’re not too hopeful given the wedding festivities.