Nuances

by Nare Navasardyan (Armenia)

I didn't expect to find India

I woke up from a deep sleep after many hours of a long flight and I was there. I was shocked by the first touch of the city air - it was a cultural shock from the first seconds. Colors, odor, humidity, language…people. I was told about this, but experiencing it myself was a completely different story. My friends picked me up from the airport and took me to the hotel. Driving by the roads of this city was a lunatic adventure- crazy traffic, but no accidents…slums in the close vicinity to modern and rich buildings, ancient buildings with a fantastic architecture and style…After a few hours of sleep, we went to greet the sunrise, the most beautiful sunrise ever…the Indian ocean, Bay of Bengal, Chennai, South India, the monsoon season. The pinky-blue colors of the sky were mashed up with flickering drops of summer rain, ocean’s orange sand and us. A touching view, so unusual but so indigenous, like the country itself, full of contradictions and surprises. The real reason I was there, was to take part in my friends’ South Indian wedding- Kalyanam. I was amazed by their wedding rituals. Before the actual ceremony, there were pre-wedding ceremonies, and I participated in their organizations. The aim of these pre-wedding ceremonies is the blessing of the couple and their upcoming union. The ceremonies are usually spiced up by flowers, water, fire, and tasty Indian food. Two days we were busy with the pre-wedding ceremonies and on the third day, the actual wedding started. We were in a special room, where the ceremony began. The groom in white and the bride in the red came in. A priest was sitting at the center of the booth and leading the ceremony with his songs, special rituals and prayers. After, we went to the Hindu temple to continue the ceremony. By chance, we were able to get in, as it is not allowed for any non-Hindus to get into Hindu temples. The building was very colorful outside but stony and dark inside. Till the last moment of the whole wedding ceremony, I was waiting for dances, but no, it didn’t happen. They have their own rules. Now imagine after this magnificent start, you are going to another, as Hindus believe, the happiest ceremony they have, the funeral. We were in Varanasi, the city that is considered to be the most spiritual city among Hindus. On Ganga, where all Hindus hope and believe that they will be cremated when dead, we were looking at a cremation ritual from the boat. Natives were doing absolutely everything in the river... swimming, washing teeth, drinking the water from that river and even persuading us of drinking tea made from the water of the Ganges. Lots of people came there to say goodbye to the relatives that were dead. They were watching how the corpses were getting burnt and left to Ganga. There were colorful flowers and bright lights floating over the river water. With a divine harmony blindly bright colors of natives’ clothes and ornaments were intertwined with the fire and flame, the sunset and colors of spiritual buildings. The air was full of cheerfulness and excitement. It was both a daunting and strange atmosphere for me: the faces were so peaceful even though they were there to say farewell to their dead relatives. Whereas for them, it was a common belief with a deep philosophy the better the mood is when accompanying the dead to the underworld realm, the more exciting the life of the relative will be in the divine kingdom. It seemed that the cremation ceremony was more joyful and vibrant than the wedding. That feeling was kind of eye-opening and frightening. I was witnessing a life cycle, that was all about new beginnings, as every end is also a beginning. This journey became a start for a completely different chapter in my life- I have begun to value each moment of it and cherish any opportunity that my fortune has prepared for me. It was a real-life changing experience that I didn’t expect to get while exploring Hindu culture.