The Mehendi Nite...Mehendi Lagake Rakhna...

Nov 15th

Mehndi Lagake Rakhna, Doli Sajake Rakhna...
....Mehndi Lagake Rakhna, Doli Sajake Rakhna...
   .....Lene Tujhe O Gori, Aayenge Tere Sajna...
        ....Mehndi Lagake Rakhna, Doli Sajake Rakhna, O Ho, O Ho...

 

Next day of the Sangeet was the Mehendi...Now the Mehendi is one of the very auspicious items that a bride has to wear on her Palms and Feet...Auspicious as it is a sign of marital happiness, love for each other and longevity of marital life ...hence in the olden days and in accordance to the Hindu rituals, a person, whose spouse had passed away, could not wear the mehendi...One of the beliefs is that the darker the colour of the mehendi on the Bride,....the greater  her mother-in- and husband will 'LOVE' her.
...In the North Indian marriages, the bride's mehendi specially comes from the grooms's home. This is not the case in the marriages amongst the South of India.  Irrespective of where it comes from, or who is making it, the mother or the chachi, or the biba or the didi  creates the paste very carefully, mixing specific ingredients along with a lots of love and blessings.
...Usually the Grooms family send the mehendi the day of the mehendi event, but since Raja's parents lived 4 hrs away in Long island...and the previous evening Sangeet went on until  the wee hrs of Nov 15th...Raja's mom gave us the mehendi at the Sangeet.

...Now in the South of India...we really don't have an elaborate Mehendi ceremony...this ceremony is more associated to the customs practised in the North of India. That said, in South Indian marriages, traditionally, they would make a fine paste of mehendi leaves (Goranti in Kanada) and apply it as round circles on the palm and cap the fingers...yes, the fine elaborate patterns were reserved for the North Indians (the Mughal influence, I presume,,)...South is more the Vidya Balan style. Yes,she wore the mehendi circles on her palms for her wedding on Dec  14th with Siddharath Roy Kapur...I guess she had the choice of having either the South Indian style (she is a madrasi-Palghat) or the Bengali style (alpana patterns, Siddharath Roy Kapur is a Bong) or a North Indian  (brought up in Mumbai and works in Bollywood!!)...I am sure after Vidya Balan's much publised mehendi pictures, the round circles are back in vogue and all the Madrasi Aunties is will suggest to the daughters and nieces to wear the VB mehendi style...(psst...you are talking of spending  $0 vs. $XXX...Telling you these Madrasies are smart!!...check out VB or rather now Mrs SRK and her mehendi...btw, she is one of my fav actresses and I love her acting...

Anyway coming back to darling Purni...conversation around Jun'12:

We: Purni...Browse for a lovely Mehendi design for hands and feet...All brides have to put it own
Purni: Mehendi....eeeewwwwWW!! I am not going  to wear  Mehendi...
We: Are you CRAZY!!! Don't you see it in the bollywood movies...even Sahana knows about the mehendi!!!
Purni: hmmmm
We: ...also,You are marring a Punju!! Mehendi is a must!!Imagine...OMG, Raja's folks will be so disappointed! no mehendi!!
Purni: So what! Raja likes me the way I am!!
We: (Breathe...breathe...no yelling)
Purni: okay...(you can hear the sigh!!) I will put on only a dot...very little and that too only for Mom (Raja's mom)...just a little... and only on the hand...!!

Haha...between Jun and Oct'12...
...Ashu posted clips of beautiful Mehendi designs on Pintrest
...ha ha,...Pintrest was regularly checked out by Purni...
...Purni's browsing on Punjabi marriage websites and pictures caught and acclimatized her to elaborate, delicate mehendi designs...
and by Oct end, Purni had an elaborate exquisite mehendi design selected for her hands and feet!!...(wink  wink)

Now Ashu (Purni's elder Sis and the enthu cutlet of our family...) wanted a fabulous and an elaborate mehendi event for Purni...something she will always remember...and complete with dance-drama, shor-sharaba...then the talks started...

Venue was 37, Piscatway...Pakku and Mangala's home...(our mama, and mami, and Purni's favorite mama.... Theirs is another Mi Casa es su Casa...(my home is yours)...Mangala is such a darling...she just gave her home to us, to decorate and do as we wish. Our family is truly blessed to be close knit ....and have so many people and homes, that we call our own.

Mehendiwalli - Usha our cousin (remember that name, as you will be reading a lot about her...) has a friend - Darshita..now Darshita is simply fabulous! Soft-spoken and very friendly, Darshita used to work in the Corporate world, which she quit after her baby was born. Mehendi painting used to be her hobby earlier...and this after her baby, has become her regular profession. Now what is wonderful about this young, beautiful lady, is that she donates all the monies that she is paid for the mehendi, to the BAPS mandir...and keeps only the tips for herself...isn't that a fantastic!...and so large hearted...
(PS - Darshita can be contacted at maildarshi@yahoo.com)

Mehendi ki palang, stool - Soumaya another cousin -her friend Manisha, who is an Event planner and owns Marigolds   sourced out some of the low sitting furniture.

Food: Had to be finger foods for Appetizers....and a mix of North and South Indian food for Dinner...food was from Sukh Sagar, Piscataway. As they say...the Northies cannot live without Pyaaz or Roti and Southies need their Rasam and Curds rice...(smile). Mangala managed it all beautifully...yes she is the best!!!

Invitations: managed by Ashu

MC and Singing star for the Event: Usha Changa...Now Usha is our cousin, is a Software Engineer, a decor expert, passionate about fashion, an avid marathon runner, is mom of two handsome growing boys and to top it all!! is a professional singer in the NY, NJ and CT area. wow...WoW!!! Can you imagine!!! and she manages everything  pretty well...!
(Usha can be contacted at Usha.changa@gmail.com)

Mehendi favors - me ~ Anpu...it was hennaed candles...

Event co-ordinator, Analytics - Jay Iyer

Bride: Purnima (just in case  we forgot her amidst all  the names...(smiles))

Morning of the Mehendi:

Ravi (Ashu's husband) drove Ashu, Purni, the kids and myself to Mangala's place at 10:15AM. He had this BIG Office call at 11:00 AM, which meant he has to drop us, move the decorations inside the house and then drive/park elsewhere...in a quiet place to take the call. Doesn't matter, how large our homes are,...but you just cannot take an official call, in any Indian home when there are a whole lot of people staying for a wedding or getting ready to celebrate an event...Also, all in our family are BLESSED with beautiful loud voices...no speakers are required...ear plugs come as gifts to the guys who get married into our family...hmmm kya kare!!!). Anyway we reached Mangala's place on time...

Next Darshita-the mehendiwalli walks in...
we ensure Purni settles in and is comfortable...Ashwini, Seeta and Mangala apply teeny winy dots as shagun...bless her and finally the mehendi painting starts.
Manisha then comes with the low sitting furniture...more hello, hi, stuff...now she is from Mumbai...so more hello's, and Jadoo ki Chappies...

Ashu and I then start decorating the basement...and later the 1st floor area...

Decor complete...it is time for the actual  event to start...In the meantime, Purni's mehendi got completed...

The Mehendi was another evening to cherish...lots of family joined, friends from Tampa flew down to NJ, another mama arrived that evening from Australia, Bindya and Rajesh were coming in from Chicago...so much singing, dancing and dance-drama...a wonderful warm loving ambiance was created...something all and especially Purni will cherish...Marriages are truly time for families and friends to come together and spend time with each other...

And the Mehendi session starts for rest of the crowd...

Usha singing away...to an entralled crowd...

Dr Swarna, Shyla, Veena, and Mangala dancing

Dr Lokesh and Dr Swarna doing a rustic dance-drama that talks of a young wife who adores her husband ..." Kutre Nitre nimde gayana..."  (translation:..I dream of you all the time, as I sit or stand...or doing the mundane chores)...Now, Dr Swarna we know has dancing feet, but her darling hubby Dr Lokesh complements her cent to cent!! Be it dance or drama or just just sheer enthusiasm...Thanks for being part of our family

More Singing and fun...

In teh meantime,...Darshita continues to apply mehendi on rest of the wommen...while, Usha continues to croon soulful music...while some continue the photo sessions...

Dinner was served...but the crowd was still having loads of fun

Again, what  a lovely evening!...wish these days never end...
...Hope you enjoyed the post...:-)