Starting To Fill Up
The auspicious moment for the ceremony was 1:30AM so the reception was held first. Anita, the bride, was enthroned to await the arrival of Frederic, the groom.
Anita Talking To Aiko
In Hindu weddings the groom is the star attraction even while the bride regally (there was a lot of gold jewelery involved) watches and reflects.
We started to eat about 9PM. Another stellar meal. The groom arrived about 10PM to the ululations of the waiting women. Frederic looked every bit the Indian groom and he played his part very well but he too had to sit on a throne and watch the rest of us eat.
A Quiet Moment Together
By midnight it was quite chilly and half the people had already gone home (and we were still 90 minutes from the actual ceremony itself). Olga and I went down to the lobby and warmed up. Around 1AM Aiko woke us up since the die-hards were on the roof, singing. We went back up to the roof, wrapped ourselves in pro-offered table cloths and listened to home entertainment, Bengali-style – beautifully sung folk songs.
1:30AM came and went. The priest was busy setting up the alter site so the three tables that remained (about 30 of the original 150 guests) continued to sing and joke.
Aiko had composed her own Bengali song, which she sang with what sounded like a very convincing accent. It was a simple song with only two phrases repeated but I was impressed. Everyone laughed when she was finished. The lyrics:
Hello, how are you?
Hello, how are you?
Hello, how are you?
I am fine.
Aiko and I did a reprise of “O Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz”. Totally forgettable.
Well, the ceremony finally got under way at close to 2AM. People who have been at a Hindu wedding know that there may be little formality required. You can ask the priest questions nad he'll make use of the “teachable moment”.
There were 18 stages to the ceremony and someone wrote it all out in English. Here are the documents.
If you download and read the images you'll see that the groom and the father of the bride are the main actors. The bride, beautiful as she is, is more or less just a prop. Still, it is a relaxed, talkative event and small conversations continued to go on.
About 2 hours later, Anita and Frederic were well and truly married in the Hindu religion.
It was getting late so just a few group photos were taken and everyone headed for home or hotels. 
One Last Photo
There were no taxis at the taxi stand so we took hotel transport and got home at 4:30AM. The streets were amazingly empty
It is now 5:30AM and I can't sleep. Today is our last day in Kolkata. I will remember most the people I have met. I don't know if there is such a thing as a “typical” Indian but if there is then take such a person and soften all his or her edges and you have, perhaps, a typical Bengali. Olga says that education softens a person. I suspect that tonight I was in the presence of some of the best educated (in the liberal arts sense) people on earth.
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