Shaadi and The City: Get Married Away

Last week, somewhere between discussing the diameters of dandiya sticks and and determining whether sandwich dhoklas qualify as "garba friendly" appetizers, I confirmed that wedding planning was officially taking over my life. With the first semester of grad school done with and d-day looming, exactly three months away, I am dealing with the fact that the bulk of my summer months won't be spent frolicking around The City, lounging in Central Park and taking a seminar on the Politics of Power at my university. And honestly, I'm okay with that. In fact, just for yucks, I'm letting some of that notoriously liberal New School philosophy permeate my life a little, and trying to look at the build-up to my wedding from the point of view of an--yes, really--ethnographer.

Formally, ethnography is defined as "the fundamental research method of cultural anthropolgy". Yawn. To dissect that a little, it's an anthropological approach that emphasizes the importance of being a part of the community you study, so rather than merely "observing", one (i.e. me) is actually immersed in the daily on-goings of the group.

So excuse me if the next few entries seem series-like, but to paraphrase the adage, you're supposed to write what you know, and what I know right now is the big, fat, syrupy world of Indian weddings: mandaps, malai koftas and mehndi. Whether I choose to look at it as a million-dollar industry, an age-old tradition or something in between, come August 16, I'll be participating in my (gulp) very own one. If you're reading this, consider yourself invited ;)