The Wedding Crashers

(Alice) Many glamorous bejeweled beautiful people of Mumbai strutted through the hotel lobby before out group went out for the evening. Someone had heard that there was a pre-wedding party happening that night in the rooftop function room.

One of my goals for this trip was to crash an Indian wedding, and the night-before party seemed close enough. When we returned from dinner, I inquired whether anyone wanted to go up and at least gawk from the doorway, and Rachna was game. We got to the rooftop, and edged our way into a room filled with gorgeous people sweating into their most exquisite jeweled saris and sparkly long Nehru jackets to loud bhangra music. There were low satiny divans along one wall with a 40th-floor view of the Arabian sea and the city lights. A woman in a glistening ensemble semi-reclined on one divan with her arms oustretched to either side while two women applied henna art to both of her hands simultaneously. Other recently-hennaed hands waved to the music all across the room. Waiters circulated offering wine and finger food, but we just wanted to dance and take in the scene. At one end was a low stage, and the beautiful bride and her girlfriends, boy friends and family members writhed and snaked their wrists through the air under swooping colored lights and a barrage of photographers. The men as well as the women looked so perfect that I wondered whether-- this being Mumbai-- any of the group were Bollywood celebrities. Hadn't I seen some of these faces on movie posters or in commercials? Even if they were all private citizens, this was clearly the expensively-groomed upper crust of Mumbai society.

Though I happened to be wearing a long embroidered skirt, never have I felt so plain and under-dressed in my life. But the music and atmosphere were so festive that Rachna and I moved closer to the stage and danced. One by one, the photographers began snapping us. Will the bride and groom laugh and wonder who the hell are these people, or will they feel glad that some strangers wanted to join their celebration?

Rachna and I briefly debated going out to a dance club, or whether to return to our rooms, dress up a bit and come back for more pre-wedding. As we began walking out the door, a very old but dressed-to-the-nines woman (maybe the bride's grandmother?) urged us back into the party and even pushed us deeper into the room. This was our first explicit invitation to take part in the event we'd crashed, so we danced a bit more. We then decided to glam up as best we could and persuade a few more of our group to join us. Steve and Hing could not be budged, but Julie was willing to come out of her cozy bathrobed comfort to join us in the experience. The three of us returned and danced a bit more before the music got lower and the lights higher as things wound down. I hope the beautiful couple is very happy.