Dancing Luc

Today gets two posts. On my way back down from the hilltop I decided to find some food. Using my streetsense I found out the best deals were at the bus stand, 25 rupee (50 cents) all-you-can-eat thalis (meals consisting of chappoti - tortilla like Indian bread - and various dals or curries, sometimes with rice and dessert). However, on my way, as usual, I was stopped various times by locals to sit and talk, sometimes over chai (tea). The locals speak more English in this part of the country, so my conversations have been a little more verbal. This time we started talking about dancing, and my conversation buddy gets excited and insists I must come with him. I explain I need food, but he assures me this won't be a problem. As we are walking down a narrow street, I wonder what I am getting myself into. Next thing I know it, I am sitting next to the groom for wedding pictures and videofilming. I felt a little bad for crashing this rural India wedding, but I soon realized that it was a community affair with people coming and going, plus they would not let me leave. There was food, served in an imrovised wedding patio converted out of the street with carpets under a canopy of blinking lights. And there was dancing, with me being the main attraction I soon found out. Music was provided by a small band featuring drummers and brass instruments, complemented by a mobile DJ, basically a cart decked out in chrome and lights with a synthesizer and microphone powered by a diesel generator. I just tried to imitate the moves I've seen on the various Bollywood features I've watched, and everyone seemed to enjoy. People even started waving 50 rupee bills over my head (I'm not sure exactly what that means). Only the men danced and the interactions were very energetic and playful. After about an hour I wanted to get away so as not to keep my host family up too late at the guest house, but people kept dragging me back. At one point the groom mounted a decorated steed and the event transitioned into the mosque for a ceremony; I took advantage of the lull to escape before the music trapped me again. Back in my room the water was out, but uckily we could fetch some from a nearby well for a cool refreshing shower. I wish I could get a copy of that wedding video, I am sure it would been cery amusing to watch!