And now what?

Hard to follow up, after such an intense and happening blog tour. I'm feeling a little disoriented. Enjoying the more leisurely pace of the last few days, for sure. I've slept between 9 and 11 hours each and every night since Sunday. My desk is no longer cluttered with drawings, schedules, and notes about the tour. And I know that I need to get back into a regular schedule, writing, submitting stories again, etc. But I've decided to give myself a week to "land."

In the meantime, I went to my first Indian wedding. Yesterday was declared a very auspicious day for marriages, and ten thousand couples tied the knot, here in Hyderabad. Yes, you read that right. TEN THOUSAND weddings were celebrated in this town, yesterday only. I missed the beginning of the ceremony (which started at 9 am) because my taxi driver (our car was at the workshop) wanted to drop me at another couple's wedding and couldn't find the right venue, but I finally made it, and what I saw was every bit as fascinating and colorful as I imagined it would be.

I don't know why, but I was particularly touched by a ritual where the close family sat around the newlyweds while the priests ran a thread that had been previously blessed all around the group, each member of the family holding on to it.

That thread was then divided and the bride tied it to the groom's wrist (with a piece of turmeric), who then tied the other thread to her wrist. 

I also found it amusing to notice that two of the priests retrieved their mobile phones stuck in the the belt of their dhotis a few times to check for SMSs.

As usual, I was moved and grateful to find everyone so happy and eager to not only welcome me, but also to fill me in with bits of informations about their immensely rich and diverse culture. In spite of that, I left feeling that I could well spend the rest of my life here, and still have everything to discover.

Which is just fine...