Sangeet

The Wedding Couple:

Srikanth Nori and Keerti

The first night we arrived in India, Matt's college friend Nori and his fiance were having a Sangeet. A sangeet is a north Indian tradition, but Nori and Keerti wanted to have one even though they lived in south India because they said that south Indian weddngs are too somber -- no singing or dancing. Basically, at a sangeet, all of the friends and family of the couple do choreographed dances to songs. Matt took some videos of the sangeet and uploaded them to youtube. All of Matt's videos are there, and there are 2 from the sangeet.

Before the sangeet, Nori came to pick us up at the hotel and took us shopping for Indian clothes to wear to the sangeet. We were totally jet lagged and Nori was stressed about the sangeet, so he didn't give us very much time to choose the outfits. The result for me as a neon lime green salwar kameez. They all said it looked cute, but I am not so sure!

The sangeet was held outdoors, and there was a giant buffet area and stalls where you could get free bangles, flowers, paan, or have your palm read. There were 300 guests, which at least twice as big as what my wedding will be! And this was just the first event of the wedding!

The singing and dancing was amazing...I was impressed that all of their friends would get up on stage and sing and dance in front of everyone! They were having a good time, and it was fun to watch. I expect all of my family and friends to do that for me, so take note of that, cousins!

Man giving out bangles

The only sad part was when you walked to the bathroom...the poor people were sort of standing back in the shadows sleeping or watching. I guess they were probably waiting to eat the leftovers. Anyway, it was disturbing.

It was amazing to see all the women with their brightly colored saris...everything was sparkly and bright and pretty. We also met Nori's friends for the first time at the sangeet. It is amazing to think that we didn't know them then, because I really think we bonded with them over the course of the 2 weeks and now I feel like I have known them forever. Nori's family and friends adopted us and took care of us the whole time. Indian hospitality really is amazing.

Matt and Nori's friend Bahrat