Fabric Catalogs and an Indian Wedding

February 22, 2008

Today I spent four hours in the shelter home working with the girls to catalog their block prints. This required taking each block, printing it three times on white fabric, cutting each one out, labeling it Block Number x, and making 3 files. One file will be kept at the shelter home, one at Destiny, and one with The Emancipation Network in the US. This is hopefully going to speed the efficiency of placing orders for blockprinted fabrics. The survivors at the shelter home initially thought I was crazy, asking them to block print the same thing three times, but eventually they understood the concept.

Afterwards, I rushed back to the city because my friend had invited me for her cousin's wedding. I had left my bag at Destiny, and when they found out I was going to a wedding they insisted on dressing me up in full Indian regalia. This type of dress is Lacha, and despite my hatred of pink, it would be a lie to say I didn't feel like a princess. The Bengali wedding was less chaotic than others, because there is no dancing. At the beginning, the bride and groom sit in opposite chambers and the family members bless each of them. The actual wedding ceremony consists of several blessings, the bride being carried in a chair around her husband, an exchange of garlands, and lots of chanting. Of course, the food afterwards was delicious, although I had to be careful not to overfill my exposed belly!