Indian Aspirations: Progress Update

Yesterday I went to Yamunanagar. Left at 5.30am arrived at 10.30am. We left Yamunanagar at 4.30 and only got back at 10pm. That's 10 1/2 hours in the car in one day! Part of the reason it took so much longer to get back was because of all the marriages (you say marriages not weddings before you correct me). There were 36 000 weddings in Delhi alone last night as it was the most auspicious day of the year to get married. I lost count of the number of scarlet and gold crested bands we saw marching along the road blasting their trumpets and heralding the arrival of their groom.

I unfortunately wasn't invited to any of these weddings which brings me to the progress I have made with my Indian Aspirations (see side bar) I set myself a couple of weeks after my arrival.

1. Ride side saddle on the back of a motorbike in a sari without a helmet
   Status: In progress. I have just got the sari, I have the motorbike and driver and 2 artistic photographers. The one flaw in my cunning plan is that I have no idea how to drape a sari. There is however, a particularly sweet old hindi lady downstairs. She doesn't speak a word of English but I am hoping that if I go there proferring her 6 metres of cloth she will get the picture.
2. Go to an Indian wedding
   Status: Negative ghostrider. Despite my best efforts I didn't crack the nod to an Indian wedding. I have however seen glimpses of what goes on behind the brightly draped pink and purple tents.
3. Get henna done on my hands
   Status: check. The only thing is that the lady that did it didn't speak English very well and when she told me to wash it off after half an hour what she actually meant to say was don't get it wet for 12 hours and rub mustard seed oil in it to make sure it goes nice and dark. As a result my henna was an unimpressive light orange.
4. Learn basic Hindi
   Status: check. That is if very basic Hindi counts. A few weekly lessons is just not enough to pick up this beautiful but completely foreign language.
5. Meet the Dalai Llama
   Status: Negative. I did go to his home town though and was there for the marching and general outrage over the Chinese president's visit to India.
6. Have a kick ass birthday party
   Status: In progress. Watch this space.