Today was an action-packed day. We went to a small wedding ceremony in the morning, had lunch with the governor, went to the home of India's most famous movie star
Amitabh Bachchan, and partied at a wedding reception with about 1500 other people.
This was the fourth and final day of Sarah's friend's wedding. Here is the groom with his parents, conducting some rituals.
Everyone got dressed up in traditional Indian attire for the occasion.
The ceremony was beautiful in an intimate wedding hall. Fresh flowers were arranged all over the place.
This net was held up between the bride and groom for about 15 minutes before they were finally allowed to see one another.
The bride and groom tied bracelets around each other's wrists. No kissing allowed in Indian weddings...
The bride's brother started yanking on the groom's ear in order to remind him that he better take care of his sister. It actually looked quite painful!
Sarah and Komal (the bride) hugging each other after the ceremony.
The group is getting ready to meet the governor at his mansion.
Nell looked really tired and Ian was very jetlagged.
Traditional Indian sweets and tea served while we were waiting to meet with the governer.
Dafina was so overjoyed by the upcoming meeting with the governor and his good looks that she broke a glass and spilled water all over the governor's seat and working papers.
Fortunately, someone came to mop up the mess right away before the governor arrived...
Meeting with the governor of Maharashtra SM Krishna went very smoothly. The governor was a reformist politician who is credited with promoting cooperation between the private sector and government. He is sometimes referred to as the Father of IT Initiative of India.
Lokesh in deep thoughts....
Umed explaning something to Ian who is listening with a very wise look.
Lokesh explaining the structure of Indian politics to the group over lunch.
Allison with a smile.
Ian trying a very HOT & SPICEY chicken masala.
Lokesh making faces at Dafina....
Jimmy and Whit standing outside after their first lunch in India and having a chat.
Group bus heading to Amitabh Bachchan's house to drink tea and chat. Mr. Bachchan was voted the most famous person in India surpassing any living famous politician by a very high margin.
Group photo with Mr. Bachchan. Amitabh was a very inspirational and interesting speaker. He has fouded his own production company ABCL production company.
Umed taking a photo with Mr. Bachchan, who was Umed's childhood film hero (in Tajikistan).
Umed, Lokesh and Jimmy posing for a picture in front of Mr. Bachchan's Porche.
In the evening, we went to the reception, which took place at the Turf Club. The older women were happy to see Sarah in a sari, but then they realized she didn't have a red dot on her forehead. So one of them grabbed an extra one out of her purse and immediately put it on her forehead.
Sarah with the bride.
People started dancing like crazy before the bride and groom entered in their convertible.
They even picked up Ed and started tossing him in the air.
The bride and groom in their convertible.
The groom and bride had to sit on stage for a couple of hours greeting the 1500 people who attended their reception while the rest of us had dinner and drinks.
Lokesh, Sarah, Umed, and Nell waiting in line to have their pictures taken with the bride and groom.
There were comfortable couches all over the place at this outdoor reception. The stage looked pretty amazing as well.
Sarah, Ed, Allison, and Lokesh at the wedding reception. The four of us ended up partying until 3am...
We almost have the entire group with us now. Once we meet up with Ohad and his wife in Goa, we will be complete at 14 people!
Welcome to Goa!
As soon as we arrived in Goa, there was a bus waiting for us to take us to Kali, where we will spend the first night before going to the Leela in Goa.
Lokesh's car was driven from Hyderabad with the booze, so some of us joined him for the ride to Kali.
Ian's GSB cap came in handy as he passed out on the bus.
The roads in Goa were not nearly as crowded as Mumbai. But there were a lot of cows.
Jimmy, Dafina, and Andrew on the bus.
By the time we got to Kali, the sun had just set. We had some trouble finding our resort by car, until we finally realized that the place we were going to stay was actually on an island!
After a 10-minute boat ride, we finally arrived at Devbagh Beach Resort.
We had a fun beach BBQ on the island.
Mmmm...
After dinner, it was time for bed. However, there were only four huts available, so they sent Dafina, Andrew, Ed, and Sarah out on a houseboat for the night...
