What does one wear to a Mala & Mehndi?
My tux would be inappropriate...
07.03.2019 - 07.03.2019 82 °F
At a recent Kansas City Saturday morning manicure, needing a break from balance sheets and sales numbers over which she daily pours, B4 picked up a copy of People Magazine and was grabbed by the headline: “Beyoncé performs at a wedding in India.” The December, 2018, wedding was that of Isha Ambani, the daughter of India’s—and perhaps Asia’s—wealthiest man that, said the magazine, cost an estimated $100 million to stage.
That story hit close to home as B4—and I as her +1—are invited to this week’s March, 2019, Mumbai wedding of Isha’s twin brother Akash Ambani to Shloka Mehta, the daughter of B4’s longtime friend and Indian diamond mogul, Russell Mehta. (He is a "diamondtaire: an expert in the cutting of diamonds into gems, or, a member of a successful diamond-dealing family or group." Local media calls him: “Diamondaire.” They are referring to him as being wealthy from the diamond business)
The Times of india reported that Akash and Shloka hosted a bachelor’s and pre-wedding party for 500 of their closest friends in St Moritz, Switzerland on February 23, 24 and 25; two aircraft were chartered as transport. Unable to attend (and not invited) on those dates, we were instead on the beach in Cabo San Lucas with four of our closest friends: Sam and James and JoAnn and Chuck; we too rode on two aircraft to get there. Somehow, however, it’s different.
But, never fail, we are nonetheless here now to visit the absolute wealthiest of India’s 1.3 billion people.
B4 received our wedding invitation—the one that was reported on in India Today as follows:
Really, watch the video. That’s the publicity over the invitation itself. The formal invitation is headlined with the words, “Om Ganeshaya Namah,” a mantra to remove all hindrances and obstacles that prevent one from reaching his or her desires and goals and “Om Mahaviraya Namah,” a mantra to get all types of success in life.
It is under this backdrop that B4 and I, both reasonably successful but comparably poor against the wedding party and embarrassingly wealthy compared to tens of millions of others here, arrived, jet-lagged but well-rested in United Airlines lie-flat business-class seats, in teeming, mysterious and even troubled India, now emerging as the world’s largest and most vibrant democracy to attend what may be second of the world’s two most-expensive weddings.
But now, finally, on to the "What To Wear?" title of this entry. Our invitation notified us that appropriate dress would be, on Day One, Indian Traditional; on Day Two, Indian Ceremonial; and on Day Three, Indian Formal.
What to do? Upon the advice of the aforementioned Aashish, weeks ago, we employed the services of Rashmi Singh at Carma Online Shop. http://www.carmaonlineshop.com Rashmi and B4 communicated at length. At one point, we trekked to my tailor to have extensive measurements taken so that Rashmi and her retinue could create appropriate apparel for us.
Two boxes of clothing were delivered to our Club Room at BKC Trident today for a final fitting and necessary adjustments. Not a moment too soon. Our first event, “Mala and Mehndi” at the Dome, NSCI, Worli, is tonight. We will reveal our outfits day by day. Tonight we’re peachy.
Suffice to say, we appear to be--to us at least--spectacular. To native Indians, we may appear to be--at least to them--ridiculous in our attempt to fit in. We will never truly know.
To help us get it right, it is noted on a document handed to us upon check-in, "Salon Facilities: The Club offers hair & free draping services." There, B4 is properly draped.
We are, of course, in every way, honored to be invited guests to the marriage ceremony of Shloka, daughter of Mona and Russell Mehta and Akash, son of Smt Nita and Shri Mukesh Ambani.
Shloka (born July 11, 1990) and Akash (born October 23, 1991) met while studying at Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai. One other source, however, reports that they first met as children. Shloka studied anthropology at Princeton and received a law degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She founded ConnectFor, a charitable organization that matches volunteers with NGOs in need of talent.
Akash graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, majoring in economics and now serves as Chief of Strategy at Reliance Jio, India’s third largest mobile phone network in India, tenth largest in the world.
Shloka’s father, Russell Mehta, here with Dov and Elliot and us, is a longtime friend of B4’s, is managing director of Rosy Blue India, the Indian arm of the family-owned Belgian/Indian diamond company Rosy Blue which trades in rough diamonds, manufactures and distributes polished diamonds and jewelry and is one of the largest diamond traders worldwide. Russell and Mona have three children of which Shloka is the youngest and a director of the Rosy Blue Foundation.
Akash’s father, Mukesh Ambani is the Indian business magnate who chairs Reliance Industries Limited, India’s most valuable company by market value. Reliance refines petrochemicals, is the largest retailer in India and a provider of telecommunications services through subsidiary Jio. He is said to have a net worth in the neighborhood of $49 billion making him the 19th or 12th or 10th richest person in the world, depending upon whose list you look.
The Mala & Mehendi is at The Dome, National Sports Club of India, in the Worli neighborhood, City of Mumbai, a 45 minute drive in traffic from the Trident.
Built on the site of a 1957 era outdoor stadium is the 5,000 seat indoor sports stadium built in 2002 called The Dome but formally named as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium. It is the largest indoor venue in Mumbai. Vallabhbhai Patel was an Indian freedom fighter and politician whose name also adorns an international airport and the national police academy.
So, on this long-planned Thursday, 7th March 2019, we gather for the Mala and Mehendi, the traditional private pre-wedding ceremony organized by the family of the bride in the presence of friends, relatives and family members where the bride has the red-orange mehndi—or henna--“stain” body art applied to her palms, back of hands and feet. Tradition says that the deeper the color of the bride’s mehendi, the happier the marriage will be. Designs are symbolic indicating the blessings of luck, joy and love. We are told that the groom’s name is often hidden somewhere in the intricate patterns. Typically the ceremony is strictly limited to women who often opt to have henna applied albeit in a less elaborate pattern on a single appendage—“to be mindful of etiquette.” Some men participate so, I jump in.
Mala is the Hindi word for garland and here the garland usually consists of flowers bunched together on a string, similar to the familiar Hawaiian lei. Tradition dictates that a variety of colorful flowers including roses, carnations, marigolds and orchids are used representing excitement, happiness and beauty on the string which signifies the marital union itself.
The evening is highlighted by dancing performances by family and friends set to Indian Rock Music. For some unknown reason, B4 and I, standouts by being two of the very few caucasions at this event, are seated in a place of honor in the midst of the Mehta family. We are honored beyond words.
The elaborate and tightly arranged if not performed dancing, which no one photographs or videos at the explicit request of our hosts is wonderful to watch. We, then, will record only images of us and not of the bride and groom nor of the entertainment provided. Imagine a Bollywood movie and you have a mental picture of what we were privileged to witness.
Youtube has a video. Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg2zyyecKEY
The lavish dancing presentations are capped by a lavish dinner—nearly all of it B4 and I cannot identify. There is no meat nor fish nor fowl and no alcohol.
Did I mention that dress for the evening is “Traditional.” We are anything but that. We know a few folks included in the two thousand or so here, among them Dov and Elliot Tannenbaum with whom we cluster, taking it all in. Never have we seen anything like this and, probably, never will we see it again. But, wow.
