The Wedding Wrap

Marriage season has begun, and let's just say that I am going to have to get a lot better at wrapping a sari.  Veni, one of the girls on my team, and her fiancee, Suhel tied the knot last Sunday, to much fanfare, photo-taking, and bell-ringing.  Theirs was the first in a pretty busy wedding season for my team.  We have no less than four couples getting married this month and next.  My Indian-couture-related stress has skyrocketed, but it is so much fun to be included in these family events.  I am honored, truly.

My maiden sari voyage was ruled a qualified success by the ladies.  I apparently need to work on my pleats some an the tightness of the wrap, but not too bad for a foreigner on a first outing.  In typical Mackh fashion, I was running horribly late, and so only had time for 2 false starts before I had to pin it all up and just go with it.  Sari's are surprisingly comfortable and warm.  I have a lot of work to do before I make it look as elegant as it should, but I'm motivated to try, for sure.

Veni was a beautiful bride in a traditional lehenga and Punjabi wedding trim.  We stayed through the first few hours of ceremonies and dinner, but the actual formalities did not occur until the wee hours of the morning.  This type of wedding is more a marathon than a sprint, and not for the faint-hearted.   Veni and Suhel seemed to take it all in stride, which I'm sure bodes well for the future.  It was an honor to be included - "Shadee mubharak ho!"

Missing Jody

One of the saddest things about the holidays for me, was that I found out one of my colleagues and roommates, Jody Stiely, passed away a few days after Christmas.  Our expat family is a small one, and I have been so blessed in the amazing people who I've had the opportunity to live with and travel with over the past year.  Even among them, Jody was a bright light.

Bubbly, adventurous, full of ideas, energy, and creativity, Jody had a way of filling the space around her with excitement and fun.  At the same time, she was incredibly intuitive and thoughtful, and always looked out for her buddies, in every sense.  I simply cannot believe that someone so alive is now gone. I know I, and many others who loved her, will carry a piece of her with us forever and we'll be the better for it.

We tromped through the warren of old Delhi to buy stones for a jeweler friend and nosh on chicken Noorjahani at Karim's.  We picked out pillows in Lagpat Nagar that we loved, and Danny hated, of course.  We tried on sarees and salwar suits and strings of pearls.  We clambered over the kamasutra-carved temples of Khajuraho, and wended our way through the palace and cenotaphs at Orchha.  Jody saved all of her food on the train and in restaurants and embarrassed the heck out of me by passing it out to whomever she thought needed it, both because we stuck out like a sore thumb and because I knew she was right. She patted cows and cuddled puppies, and hugged people that maybe she shouldn't have, but again, she was probably right.  I was looking forward to so many more adventures with Jody, that I can't help but feel bereft.  My heart goes out to her family and friends, to Danny, her boyfriend, and to those of you who missed out on meeting her.

Jody, wherever this greatest adventure takes you, I wish you peace and am sending my love.

Home, And Back, And Home, And Back for the Holidays

So, I've been a pretty sorry blogger for the most part of fourth quarter.  Life has been crazy at work as we have been implementing several new projects, and I am supporting one of my colleague's team while she is out on maternity leave.  I love it, but I have definitely reached critical mass this quarter, which has made for minimal time to blog.

I was home for Thanksgiving, traveling via Chicago to our Ann Arbor office to work for a few days, and then heading out to California for Thanksgiving week at home, before coming back to India.  Then, it was three weeks of hustle and bustle to finish the quarter and Christmas shopping in India, before hopping a plane on the 23rd to make it home for Christmas.

It was wonderful to see family and friends, though it is phenomenal how fast two weeks goes by.  I spent New Year's up at Tahoe with Lauren, Shannon, and Sheena and had a great time snow plowing down the mountain for a few days.  Now I'm back in Hindustan and missing everyone, at the same time I'm happy to be what now feels like "home."  

Some fleeting observations and things I discovered in the back and forth... forgive me if it's drivel:

• Starbuck's and a Cinnabon within 30 minutes of landing mean America to me
• I've been away too long when Meredith has grown so much that she looks like Grace to me (sorry Pete and Ann!)... Between that and banging her head on the ceiling when she was a baby, I think I've blown my honorary auntie status for life!
• Marilyn is a beautiful pregnant person and I can't wait to meet the baby boy who will have arrived by the time I get home
• Niels might just about be the cutest thing in the whole wide world, but why should I be surprised, when I love his parents so much?
• Life has moved on in the year I've been gone, but not as much as one might think
• ...And I'm reminded, once again, to "count my blessings..."