Farewells

With the fun of the wedding ceremonies and behind us, we moved to a more somber note in the wedding. Now that Pranav and Smita are wed, she will be moving in to his home. For the bride's family, this marks a change in her status, as she "leaves" her family's home to join another. The occasion is a mixture of happiness and sadness.


At the beginning of the wedding process, Pranav brought a coconut with him - a traditional offering at the start of the marriage rites. Now, this same coconut is placed beneath the wheel of the car that carried them away. Breaking the coconut is a wish for good times for the couple ahead.

We ride along with Pranav's younger brothers to their home, where the ceremony rites will conclude. We arrive at a tall, high-rise complex near Law Garden, a large public park. Inside, we learn that Pranav, his brothers, parents, grandparents and great-grandmother live under the same roof in the multi-story condo. Given that the cost of land is so high in India, it's very common for many generations to share a home.


As we lunched and mingled, we learned about the couple's plans for the near future. Pranav was taking time from work for a month-long vacation for the newlywed's honeymoon in New Zealand - wow! As this will be Smita's first time out of the country, I'm sure it will be an exciting experience for her.



In a short while, it was time for us to share our goodbyes. With several hours left before our flight back to Delhi, we had time for more sightseeing in Ahmedabad.