Sperm Counts + Weddings

all in the family

The other night I went to an Indian wedding. For some reason, I was expecting an indoor wedding and women dressed in their finest outfits. The one wedding that I attended was outside, with big red tents set up for food and appetizers. Gold couches had been placed along the lawns for people to sit. Especially for people to sit and watch the bride and groom sit on a loveseat-like-couch, on a platform, and recite their wedding vows. Tables with gold table covers were placed around the lawn for people to sit at and eat. It must have been a more casual wedding; some women were dressed in expensive saris while some wore jeans and a nice kurta top. The order of this wedding was different than weddings in the U.S. First, the bride’s side of the family arrived at the actual place where the wedding was being held, whereas the groom’s side of the family went to a set location about two kilometers from where the wedding was to be held. Then the groom and all the men on his side of the family danced the couple of kilometers down to where the bride’s family was waiting. I walked down with the women, who were walking on the side of the street while the men danced. The groom rode down in a horse drawn carriage, while the bands played the drums and horns to accompany all the dancing. When the men got very close to the wedding location, the women were allowed to join in with the dancing.

Once everyone arrived at the wedding location, dinner was served buffet style, starting with appetizers (of course)! There was a whole section designated for appetizers; tasty street foods (dosas, chaat, all kinds of tikki) that were catered in and made fresh by cooks behind their stations. Then there was the main entrée buffet, which included all the staples like palak paneer, chana masala, potato curry, dal, etc. Deserts were a few different local varieties, such as gulab jamun and jellabies.

When the bride came out, my first thought was that she looked very sad. I had heard that this was an arranged marriage and thought she was simply unhappy. But, upon asking my indian friend, it actually turns out that the bride is suppose to be sad and appear sad, because she is leaving her family. So, now I have no idea what she must have been thinking, though I am still very curious.

***

I am headed out of town to Rajasthan this weekend, but wanted to leave you all with a funny note. While riding the subway this morning, I saw a poster (in the woman’s car) on “the effects of smoking [cigareetes]” insinuating why men shouldn’t smoke. It had three
bullet points for reasons against smoking.

1. Smoking lowers sperm count
2. Smoking makes sperms less effective in reaching the egg (I’m paraphrasing)
3. Smoking makes a man impotent.

So, India…I’m getting the feeling that children are a big part of Indian life here. Fear not cancer, fear not the harmful effects of smoking on the environment, fear not how smoking ages a person, no, fear the inabilty to reproduce. I don’t know India, if I were a a billion strong I might just keep smoking…

Photos of the Weddings:

Another free photo slideshow by Smilebox