After everyone recovered from the previous night, we gathered at e Hotel Mapple (with an extra ‘p’ because India) for medhi, aka henna. Natasha, the poor thing, had been up since 8 getting rubbed down with something that is supposed to make her skin glow, and only after that could she start getting ready. So by 11 or so when everyone showed up, she was just starting go get henna’d. Both Hands up most of her forearm, and both feel well up her calves. The guys doing it were incredibly quick and able to create amazing patterns on the fly. Each one is different. On one hand, they hid the letters to Aditya’s name, and on the other Natasha’s. Evidently it’s some game for him to find them. I kind of expected that medhi was some sacred ceremony, but from what I gathered, it’s basically just there to be pretty. What became increasingly apparent about India is that what matters is that you do it, not that its’ solemn, or sacred, or done well. Just that it gets throb done sufficiently.
As far as I could tell, the party is basically the to keep Natasha fed and entertained while the henna dries, which takes a couple hours. So, ere was copious amounts of food and some music.
Out of nowhere, some intense drumming started and the groomsmen and the drummers appeared. Through some sort of call and response that no one seemed to quite understand fully, different groups of people were called out to dance. Of course the google crew was one of them, but we had to be told.
After Medhi, we all went back to the hotel and took care of work stuff till ten, then walked over to Kingdom of Dreams for dinner. Imagine The Venetian in Vegas, but completely deserted. Vaguely unsettling.