Family, Food and Fun

Today was the first of 2 receptions being hosted for us while we’re in India. It was held at the hotel where we’ve been staying. There were about 100 people there—some of whom Philip has never met and most of whom I’ve never met. The celebration was to begin at 12pm, but at 11:30 Philip’s dad came to the room to get us and took us downstairs to meet the couple dozen early arrivers. Several guests had travelled over 130 kilometers to join us. Philip’s cousin, Saji, was the m.c. for the event and had his family perform as the entertainment. Although, many other guests did not understand him, he spoke in English for the introductions, etc. so that I could understand. I was referred to as “Mrs. Gretchen” throughout the presentations. His son first sang a song in Hindi (one of the 18 official languages of India and the most commonly spoken next to English). His daughter then sang a song in the local language of Malayalam. The final song was a special tribute –his wife attempted to sing “Mary’s Boy Child” in English. Some found that one a bit tough to sit through as the others were young children and their cuteness compensated for their poor singing abilities. His wife was not as cute, but the performance was appreciated nonetheless. Finally, Ciya (Philip’s cousin’s daughter) tried her best to sing Silent Night in English, but forgot the words halfway through the second verse. Whew!
I’ve been feeling sorry for Pratap, Philip’s brother, as everyone won’t lay off about him finding a wife and getting married. As often as Philip gets called fat, Pratap gets asked about when he is getting married. Even during the presentation, it was mentioned that we’ll all be getting together once again here next year to celebrate Pratap’s marriage. He has no interest in getting hitched anytime soon, but he most certainly feels the pressure.
After the entertainment portion, we all ate a grand meal of a selection of meat curries, and vegetarian options with fruit and ice cream for dessert. By 3pm most guests had left and we took several photos and headed to our room to gather our things so that we could catch a car to Trivandrum which is where we are this evening. We tried to drag Pratap along, but he said that he doesn’t like to have fun so it’s just the two of us exploring the area tomorrow. I’m excited to be at the southern most tip of India!