India Trip│Everything after The Wedding!

If you haven't already checked out my post from last week, and my post from the week before, it was all about a typical indian wedding.


Which is FULL of vibrant, colourful clothes, venues, food and just so much festivity!!!

My family and I travelled to India this year mainly for my cousin's wedding, but we do tend to go every 2-3 years regardless, because all of our extended family is there!

So after the wedding was complete, we began our little India travel tour! :P
Although we made lots of little stopovers at other family places, I'll just get excited over the main ones with you :D

FIRST STOP: Mum's Hometown ❤️
Pilibhit, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Distance from Delhi: 274km

This place is such a small town, but I just adore it beyond. 

Random reasons why?

1. My three uncles and their families still live there, and we get SO spoiled whenever we go there. 

2. I think the best way to describe this town is that everyone knows each other, if mum and I are outside they'll recognise my mum from when she was a little girl!

3. Because there's not a whole lot to do there, our whole time is consumed by QUALITY family time (Translation: Everyone stays in their PJs till 12pm at minimum, late night sleeps (We're talking 1-2am at least!), cosy sleep ins and family meals together every meal time! 

4. All the houses there have flat rooftops and it is totally normal to hang out on the roof. And that is one of my favourite things EVER. 

5. Everyone crammed into one room or on one bed and just talking and laughing about anything and everything.

6. Because it's my mum's side of the family's hometown, I get to hear such great old stories from everyone. The stack of old photo albums I get to go through. All the reminiscing that takes place and I'm privy too. 

7. I get to make my own little memories in the very places mum made her memories, and I just love it so. much. 

8. My uncle built a temple (mandir) in honour of my grandma in this town and this means a lot to me, as you'll see soon. 

Before I start the random assortment of photos from the hometown, I just HAVE to share this with you guys. On the drive to the hometown, we had a stop at Maccas.

Indian Maccas.

Get ready to have your mind blown.



Yes, that is a Mango Chilli Soft Serve on top.
#TypicalIndia

Fun fact: I tried taking a photo of the menu boards and the server scolded me and said I wasn't allowed...whoops.

Also - India, Delhi especially, is SO polluted at the moment. 
So on the roadtrip over I was thoroughly excited about seeing greenery, instead of the typical, what I like to call, 'brownery' in India. Hahaha.


Another random thing - India doesn't have much regard for rules in general. 
And in small towns, even less. Haha.
You know how when trains are coming here the gate comes down and no one crosses the track?


A video posted by Lakshay Agarwal (@lakshayagarwal) on

I can't really say the same happens in India...
Haha :P
That being said, they're so experienced with it that thankfully no one gets hurt! :P

Anyways, we finally arrived and were greeted with a big, fat box of homemade laddoos (one of the most famous Indian sweets).


Sugar and calories in a box, people.


Door...


...And stairs to the rooftop.


Rooftop panorama.


Homemade Chilli Pickle getting ready in the sun on the roof. 


Drying my hair in the sun on the roof :P

Look at these cool roti-like breads!



To get that swirl is a technique (play below!)


Another day, another rooftop :P 


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on



And one afternoon we played cricket on the rooftop :P

How cute is this little one I got to hang out with!


And, one morning we all had chai and breakfast on the rooftop cause I wanted a rooftop picnic! :P


This is my a photo of my brother setting up a timelapse video for it!

And here's the video - so cute!



A video posted by Lakshay Agarwal (@lakshayagarwal) on

That same morning we played around with flying some kites! :P


A photo posted by Lakshay Agarwal (@lakshayagarwal) on

And that night they had organised a family bonfire!



A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on



Brother-sister timing on point :P

And cause hand sanitisation is always a laughing matter :P 


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on

As I mentioned earlier, my uncle built a temple in honour of my grandma.


Look at that heart garden! ❤️


I visited it as many times as I could while I was there, one time there were school kids there and it was just so sweet!





I never got to meet my Nani and she never got to meet me. She is the one and only person I wished I could have met. I think that's why this temple is so incredibly special for me.



And at night time, it has another kind of peace about it!

SECOND STOP: Cousin's place! 
Gurgaon, Haryana
Distance from Delhi: 32 km

I am so, so lucky to have a LOT of cousins (and some of the best!). My mum is the youngest of six siblings, so most of my cousins are married and have kids! Haha. Baby of the family, right here!

But when we went to stay with my cousin and his family, his mum and dad (my aunty and uncle) joined us too. But, my time was very much occupied by their little one! ☺️

Another cool thing about when we go to India, our family always makes effort to come from all over India to spend time with us. Two of my cousins who live close to Gurgaon just came and lived in the same house with us while we were there!

They stay in a gorgeous apartment complex (which constantly has golf buggys running around and from day one my brother and I wanted to drive one, and on our last night with the help of one staff member my cousin knew, we kinda hijacked one for a bit :P).



We did a bunch of shopping in this city! India never lacks variety :P 


This trooper kept herself entertained through the hours! #hideandseek


And lots of eating out!



A video posted by Lakshay Agarwal (@lakshayagarwal) on


Poser! :P


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on
And my aunty duties were fully fulfilled with little miss!


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on





It just so magically worked out that all overseas parts of my mum's family where in India at the same time! Us, from Australia, my cousins from the Philippines and my cousins from the U.K.!

So our family had organised for a whole family reunion!



THIRD STOP: Dad's Family! 
Delhi, India
Distance from Delhi: 0km

 Now this was a very quick stopover at the end of our trip, so they had organised for all of us to go on a family picnic (including the new wife and husband :)).



So. much. food. That whole hamper is filled to the top with food. The only way Indians do it.


Indian version of crackers and cheese?


Another snack!


And a man casually walking around with 50 bags of fairy floss on a stick :P


For some weird reason they didn't allow cricket bats into the grounds, but that doesn't stop these boys! :P Hahaha, I loved this!


We have a problem. Couldn't just do sandwiches, after all? I guess? Haha.


Kulfi (or Indian Ice Cream, as I like to call it) is the best! 


And then some last minute jobs and things to pick up from the nearby markets, which my cousins and I went back and forth from with a rickshaw :P


And that was it, Ladies and Gentlemen!

The end of my month long trip to India!

I hope you guys enjoyed getting some insight to the incredible and insane country that is India :P

---

Click here for my first India post,
And here for part two of my India posts!

---

Anyways, as always...

New blog post will be up next Tuesday!!! 

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at - 
They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️Raashi
Share 20

India Trip│The Wedding!

If you haven't already checked out my post from last week, it was all about the lead up to the wedding - and now for the most important part of the week-long festivities! :P

Bucket load of photos coming your way!

So, we arrived in the town where the wedding was happening, after a 12 hour bus trip (tired is a good word to insert here :P), and we were greeted by my cousin's extended family from her mum's side.


And met with some good old indian comfort food ;)

To me, one of the best parts of indian weddings is the food clothes music I repeat food fact that the bride to be's whole extended family (from her mum and dad's side) end up staying in the same hotel or house for at least 3 days. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between - spent together! You see the same people event after event, everyone piles into one person's hotel room and the teasing, joking and laughing that fills the whole wedding house, ahhh, it's just the best. ❤️



The next morning we got straight into the festivities, beginning with what we call the 'Haldi Ceremony'. Haldi, known as turmeric powder, paste is applied to the bride for essentially beautification purposes. Indian culture is FILLED with the best natural remedies and recipes, turmeric masks really cleans up the skin and makes for a glowing bride! :) 

It's a really fun, lighthearted event with music and rituals. 
After that about 15 of us were in a hotel room and looking at how our Mehendi turned out after over 24 hours of getting darker and darker.


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on

That night we had the 'Sagai', which is basically like an engagement ceremony. 




A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on

And as usual, it wasn't long before the dancing started :P 
But, the photographer got this really cool shot of my lehenga skirt.

And THIS is why I looove indian outfits ☺️

But now - onto the ACTUAL WEDDING CEREMONY! :P

That morning everyone ate breakfast in their pyjamas, because we all had a late night before - and then I opened up my nail salon :P


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on

And when it hit nighttime - everything got started! This is the outdoor part of the venue after the workers had set it up!



All of those ^ are food stalls. Indian weddings obviously have indian food, but they also have italian and chinese food stalls, pastries and desserts, as well as indian sweets. JUST. SO. MUCH. FOOD.

Anddd some more food stalls.


The indoor part of the venue! 
Typically, the couple sits on a stage for the first part of the wedding ceremony.


The bride all ready! :D
And when everyone else was ready, the photoshoots began :P


A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on


With my mumma.

All of the aunties of the wedding just happened to be in an orange-pink colour scheme :P 


Some of the cousins!

And, then it was time for the ceremony to begin!



The bride's entrance is always ushered in by her brothers and brother cousins.

And the sister and sister cousins are usually next to bride helping her walk, haha, no joke, those wedding outfits - although gorgeous - can range from an extra 8-10kg you're carrying, easily!



The groom comes to the bride and they make their way to the stage. 






A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on



And, then she literally popped up behind us and asked for a selfie! :P



My gorgeous mumma ❤️

The first part of the wedding is a couple of rituals, loooots of photo-taking, the couple takes photos with everyone, lots of moving inside and out, grabbing food, socialising. And then - the above photo is everyone getting settled for proper dinner, around 12 am :P


More sweets.


And more food.



At the end of dinner they set up the area for the rest of the wedding. In traditional english weddings, the actual marriage happens after the vows and exchanging of the rings. In Indian weddings...

The marriage happens after the couple does a series of prayers together, and then they walk around the sacred fire together. 

They do 7 rounds of the fire together ('the pheras'), and each round essentially symbolises a different vow.



Annnnd,



After the wedding, by the time we all got back to our rooms it was almost 6am! #typicalindianwedding

Haha, like I said - it's an experience for sure!
Indian weddings are one thing.
India in general, is a whole other beast - stay tuned for that next week! :P

---

I'd like to take a quick second to say that I'm STILL trying to get back into the routine of everything and thank everyone for being so patient with me! 

My blog's images have been coming up blurry and although I tried to work on it last night, it's just not cooperating with me - soon hopefully though!

AND - I still haven't put technology back into my routine fully! Although, I have to admit it's been liberating to take a break from my computer, I will be back and commenting on and reading blogs ASAP now!

---

Click here for my previous India post,
And here for the post after the one you've just read!

---

New blog post will be up next Tuesday!!! 

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at - 
They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️Raashi
Share 21

Follow

Instagram

Powered by Blogger.

Pinterest

Contact Me

Name

Email *

Message *