Sylvia's Journal

From slum dwellers to the Mumbai elite in less than an hour. They may not be the crazy rich Asians but wealth was most visibly on display by wedding guests at my hotel. 

Whether rich or poor, it’s the wedding season. If it is anything like in Afghanistan (which I suspect it is), people will pull out all the stops, even when they have none to pull out. They will go into heavy debt to put on an impressive display, both in terms of clothing and food.

The people who celebrate their wedding at the Holiday Inn are, I presume, from the upper middle and lower upper classes. The women’s gowns are spectacular with lots of gold thread, silk in the most vibrant colors. The men are dressed in beautifully embroidered long shirts, long jackets and kaftans with headdresses that remind one of peacocks. If in Africa the women’s headdresses are most spectacular, especially in Nigeria; here it is the men that display their beauty (and wealth?) on their heads. I could just camp out in the lobby and watch the parade of beautiful people for hours.

But weddings are for everyone. Stages and festive lights strung between houses and trees can be seen (and heard) everywhere, including on streets, with drummers and dancers (stopping the already snarled traffic). From my fourth floor hotel room I can see a wedding celebration in full swing right now, just a few blocks away, with people parading onto the stage for picture taking, quite similar to the wedding rituals in Kabul. 

I was reminded of the most spectacular wedding I have ever participated in, which happened to also be in India and which I wrote about on my blog more than 8 years ago.

Tomorrow I will have to move out of this wonderful hotel as no standard rooms are available and I am not willing to pay the hefty cost of a deluxe room. I will move to a more affordable hotel in Navi (new) Mumbai where I will meet my Indian team mates for a meeting at one of their clients on Tuesday morning. But first my motor tour of the city tomorrow morning.