The Wedding Crashers

The Wedding Crashers is a bad 2005 movie that details the exploits of a couple of deadbeats who crash wedding parties for their own ulterior motives.  Well after observing the preparations for the wedding at the hotel here for the last three days, Debbie and I couldn't resist playing the part and so we crashed the wedding.  I must admit this is the second wedding I've crashed in my lifetime, but the first I've crashed on another continent!  We tried to blend in as best we could (to no avail) but none the less enjoyed the color, the sights and sounds completely.  I'm sure we stuck out like sore thumbs, but we stuck around long enough to take a few pictures and then exit rapidly. 

 

As you may know from Ian's earlier blog entry, we had the opportunity to attend the wedding of one of the local teachers' daughters.  That experience was amazing, but the preparations occurring at our hotel are absolutely over the top.  This has been the third day of setting up so we asked someone who appeared to be providing directions for the others what the cost of this wedding likely was going to be.  He estimated the cost would be about 25 million rupees or about $550,000!  Families will often begin saving money for the wedding as soon as a child is born.  Clearly this was a wedding from a family of considerable means!!

  

The bride and groom were all decked out as one might expect, but somewhere between the laser light show and the final pyrotechnics display a fire broke out (likely either due to the pyrotechnics or an overload on the electrical cables).  The fire department was called and people were running this way and that.  The estimated three or four thousand guests eventually did depart although a few hours later another three or four thousand more uninvited guests arrived just as dawn broke.  These guests were particularly noisy and black.  The crows descended to pick over the leftovers and it was Alfred Hitchcock-like in appearance.

Yesterday was the last day off before the start of the next five day training session with a new group of participants.  The teachers in the northeast requested a Monday to Friday training format so we had the luxury of a few days off this last week as we wrapped up Bhubaneswar and travelled to Guwahati.  Most of the local shops were closed so the day was spent at the coffee shop, strolling down by the river and watching the wedding preparations progress at the hotel.

We found these kids playing a pickup game of cricket down by the river.  After a couple of photos I handed out a few Canada pins I had in my pocket and pretty soon I had a crowd.  We also discovered there are some families living just behind the hotel along the river.  Their homes certainly stand in contrast to the wedding scene just a stone throws away.

On Monday morning the training sessions got started with the usual ceremonies, speeches and exchange of gifts.  This should prove to be another exciting week as we work with another group of eager teachers.