Friday. March I6, I962

SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Three

 

For East Indians, it's one date--then marriage

hy Com Lee Everett, '61 ways Sit with a wall or curtain and ”pan," 3 leaf cuntaixling en complete dressing her in a

between them and the men.
The priest performs the re~
rite by having the
bridegroom repeat certain pas-
sages trom the Koran.
husband signs a paper which
immediately taken to the
bride for her signature. The
guests are given "sacred" co.
conuts, rock sugar, dried dates,

(Miss Everett writes troin
Ahmcdnagar, India, where she
is presently teaching on a
Travel - Service scholarship. .
Ed. note.)

A young gentleman returns
from ZaiiZibar, Afric , where he
has been working in the import.
export ohice tor a number of

ligious

spices to he chewed.
The bride summons her friends
from the back room where she
is being dressed in her wedding
sari. We ﬁnd her sobbing pro.
fusely. This is a climax oi sev-
eral sleepless nights. What. lies
ahead for her is uncertain, But
her weeping can ot detain the
rest of the restiv es. The wom-

Pictured above and at left are members of an East In

. tlian wedding; party. The bridegroom, at left is hidden by a.
wreath of flowers. The bride is at center above.

sari and a ﬂower veil similar
to that oi her husband. Only
women have the pleasure of
seeing the bride.

After all the gifts of saris are
distributed among friends and
relatives, the couple are pre—
pared to meet. in a room where
the women oi reils sit, the hus»
band is seated on a carpet, The
bride is brougl. into the room
and sits on the other end of
the same carpet, Those who
want, take a coin to thcm and
bless them by ﬁrst oscillating
the coin ever the couple, bow—
ing to them, placing the coin
on a plate, and creching their
knuckles on each temple oi the
head, a sign of love. If the
knuckles do not crack. it means
the person standing berore the
couple has no love tor them.
Knowing I could not perform
the knuckle cracking part with»
out more practice. 1 had to pros
duce the sound vocally.

Next, the hidden-faced wire
and the husband face each oth—
er. A mirror is set bercre them
and a cloth is placed over their
heads so they are both hidden
fmm thc onlookers. They are
to exchange rings ﬁnd to see
each othel"s reﬂection in the
mirror. Now the newly-wedded
bride is allowed to remove her
veil ot ﬂowers to participate in
the other traditional activities.

A “tambya” of rice is emptied
on the carpet before them. The
husband puts the rice back in
the container three times, and
the wite t b times. The over~
ﬂow of rice signiﬁes the wealth

with which they will be blessed.
Then the rice is piled in the
middle and their wedding rings
are hidden in it; on a ”go” sign,
they both try to grab the rings
The loser must soy a rhyme
using the matc=s name In one
of these, the husband co s Nilu,
his bride, "my golden queen.”

A horsedrawn “tango" ar-
rives and the husband picks up
his bride, pills her over his
shoulder and carries her to the
itanga. We‘all follow in proces-
sion, joking and making noise
to the accnmpanlmem of a
drum. When we arrive at their
temporary home, the husband
carries his wire ioyouoly into
the house murmuring his grati—
tude at having a light—weight
bride.

Plan 'Music
in +he Round'
For April l2

The college music department
is currently planning a ”Music
In The Round“ program to be
presented in the Arena theater
on April 12. According to Rich-
ard Howe, (music), the program
will consist of student instru—
mental performances and possi-
bly group vocal music.

Scheduled to perform in a
Beethoven trio are Garda
Vaughan, piano; Ann Mclvlurray
cello; and Carolyn Bryan, violin.
Diane Sternberg will also pre—
sent a group of numbers by
Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

 

years and he advertises in the‘
paper tor a wire. in his article
he mentions his religion, caste,
and sub—caste. An Ahmednagar
youth responds to the article tor
his eligible sister. The gentle—-
man then comes to Alimcdnagar
from Bombay to meet the fame,
ily.

Unlike tradition where the girl
to be married never sees her
future husband, the girl is al»
lowed to see this man and to
voice an _ nion as to his de—
sirability. Alter one meeting,
the girl git-es her consent and
wedding arrangements are made,

Within a month the wedding_
takes place. Several» days oti
dinners, celebrations and iamil-y
gatherings precede the wedding
day. Friends and relatives ar-
rive and move into the girl's
home.

On Saturday evening, the
day at the wedding, some of
the bride‘s iricnds gather for i
supper. Everyone eats from;
one large plate with the ex- l
ception of those who are veg—
etarians. The meal consists ot
a one—dish mutton and rice
preparation, “biriani,” and a
sweet wheat dish, "shim." All
sit on the iloor around the
one dish, _ i
Meanwhile, the bridegroom 15]
being prepared ior the marriaget
procession through the town. Wei
ﬁrst see him sitting on a chair1
in the middle or a decorated,
room surrounded by women'
wearing veils. They are not shy
since the bridegroom's head iSl
completely hidden by streams;

of ﬂowers, l

Only by asking his permission.
are we able to lift a couple'
streamers to got a partial giance',
at his taco, he is then carried:
to a horse which he blindlyl
mounts and. l’e leads the pre-g
wedding procession followed by;
a band and t ch bearers. l

Around lo pm guests arrive!
and the procession returns. Thel
bridegroom is taken to a decorl
rated Stage ollt-cf—dool‘s {or thei‘
Official ceremony. Before ‘him,
sit the male guests. The w°m>l
en who observe thc “pul‘da sys-
tem” or Veil system are m the
house nearb' A. few girls sit
off to one Side. In strictly unho-
dox weddings, the women ale

 

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