Response to Monsoon Wedding.

Getting a sneak peak into another culture is always an interesting experience especially if it is into a celebration that one would never normally receive an invitation to. Seeing how the wedding in the film was more of a celebration of uniting the families more than having it purely revolve around the bride and groom is something I  would have never thought of. If someone would have asked me how I thought a wedding would go my response would have including something about the celebration of the bond of two people, yet after viewing this film in different religions what I thought would be somewhat the same worldwide is actually vastly different. Since the marriage is arranged they don’t yet truly have a bond and therefore the wedding is more for the families that the individuals. As well as the fact that the wedding is not centralized around the bride and groom the celebration also lasts more than just the wedding day, there are multiple other events that are part of the religion that are done leading up the marriage. There are some that are slightly confusing such as the henna on the hands of the women, for me being an outsider to this religion the overall meaning of this is unclear but seeing them celebrate in many ways is exciting. Seeing all of the other events opens one’s eyes to what the real meaning of a wedding is.

                How can someone define such an open world? I know that it would be an impossible task for most, yet I know that when my day comes I’ll remember all the little things and how it all started. Seeing in the central wedding how that is their start is nicely paralleled with P.K. Dubey falling for Alice as everything around them is in full swing. After all, what is life without a little love. 

Kumbh Mela

When the question of whether or not we had heard of the largest gathering in our world arose like any other I figured of course, common it’s the largest gathering of people in the world, how could I not? Yet, faith had failed me. I had never heard of this so called ‘Kumbh Mela’, the ‘world’s most massive act of faith’ and that caught my interest. Reading article after article the traditions and faith these people have is unwavering, I do not follow any religion or really believe in astrology or upper powers so looking at pictures and reading about the masses of people gathering isn’t something that would naturally capture my attention. As I looked deeper there is much more to this overwhelming gathering,  people live on the side of the river for weeks showing their faith, bathing in freezing waters, listening to spiritual elders speak, little communities with all the essential parts of life bloom and as powerful as it would be I could never venture around the world to do such a task. Not that it’s not an amazing feat but man I’d be scared, so many people are  trampled to death and sustain injuries, not only are there tremendous risks to attend such an event but being a Caucasian would put a target on ones back as well. Maybe my lack of spontaneity or enthusiasm has kept me in the dark as to the world’s largest gathering because for a country to be able to maintain order with millions upon millions of humans travelling to your country would take up a certain amount of time and money to be adequately prepared. How did I never hear of any of this on the news? I have yet to figure out why this has never been a big issue I’ve heard of but am quite interested to see how it goes for all of the followers who pour their hearts into the river this year. Hopefully all goes well in India.

Hello

jjjjjj