MN is now a married woman! She & her fiance did the deed early this afternoon in court in Delhi, alongside people paying their traffic violations & a few other couples tying the knot. We all huddled in the magistrate's office with her: one of her good friends, one of his, his parents, her brother, CH, AJ, JW and I. It was comfy cozy. Photos left and right. (Damn Americans!) They signed their papers after their three witnesses did, showed their passports and said aloud "I, ___, take you as my lawful husband/wife." Then it was done!

We followed up with a delicious picnic at Lodhi Garden. Roti rolls from Khan Cha Cha, mezze platters from Market Cafe, these yummy Gujarati dishes from MN's friends & a big chocolate cake. The newlyweds were glowing. Glowing, I tell you! (And I'll do my best to get the photos online as soon as I can.) After the up-and-down of the months preceding the wedding, it's just such a relief to have it official. We gave the happy couple a night in the Claridge's Hotel as our group gift, so they're off on their own for the evening. Hopefully we'll go see a Bollywood film in the theater with MN's brother.

They had their dinner for close friends & some family on Saturday night at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. We sat outside & ate all kinds of Kashmiri food. It was very, very chilly, so we ended up huddled around the heaters strategically placed around the grassy area. Awesome food. Lots of laughter. JW took the reins as staff photographer. A great night. And I must say that the '80s soundtrack we put together was just right. (Extreme's "More Than Words," anyone? Perhaps a little Aerosmith? Or Toto's "Africa"? Richard Marx? Air Supply?)

Then AJ & I went on to my radio friend TR's housewarming party. We got there just as the party was winding up & met a few of her colleagues, then sat down for some tea & conversation. It's great to see TR in her new location. Her husband & kids are coming down from the West Bengal farm in the near future. She seems excited about where she is & what she's doing. That's about all I could ask for any of my friends...

Taxi back home at 2-something a.m. Unhappy stomach. CH arrived at 3-something looking completely composed & with it, even after 24 hours of traveling from NYC. How is that possible?? Late start on Sunday. We had to arrange all the food for the picnic that was held today. Fit four of us in an auto-rickshaw -- seems I'm the official lap-sitter. Had lunch at about 4 p.m., then dinner maybe 2 hours later. South Indian thali -- god, I love it! I tried paan, or betelnut, after dinner. (It's a favorite in PNG, but I never tried it there.) Yuck. Never again.

I'm exhausted today. Must be this getting up to an alarm clock thing. How will I ever be at work at 6 a.m. in two weeks' time? I'm worn out by car horns & jittery stomach. I miss Morgan so much today. (I guess any wedding brings this all out again. I'm trying so hard to think of it as her blessing every wedding I attend, which helps ease the pain of remembering how much she wanted to be married & how much she deserved that happiness.)

I had an interesting conversation over G-chat with my cousin the other day. One of the things we discussed was how to celebrate & mourn at the same time. Must be an art form I haven't perfected yet. Can you do both at once? Or does one emotion win out? The first wedding, just six weeks after Morgan died, the sight of boats & docks & the bride in flip-flops in front of the water made me sob & sob. Happiness for the couple, then despair for our loss. It turns in a moment, then flips back just as easily. The second wedding, maybe a month ago, a little less despair but still that gnawing ache. Today, the same. My quest now is to figure out how to turn that emptiness & ache into something positive. There must be a way.

Last night we had a great traffic moment. CH is still easing into that unique chaos that is Delhi. She noticed that MN's husband (!) drove through a red light. (To his credit, he drove slowly.) CH: "Um, that was a red light... Does that mean anything here?" To which the brave man replied, "Not after 10:30 in the evening! Besides, it was a pedestrian light." Unthinkable in California. Here, somehow it all makes sense.

JW's Hindi is progressing quite well. Turns out it's quite an icebreaker with the kids when she counts from 1 to 10. The adults have a more visceral reaction to a few other choice phrases she's been taught in the last two weeks... One of them is the only complete sentence I know in Hindi. I can't write it down for fear of offending the parents reading this blog. Sorry! But I have to say that its shock value is fantastic.

Tomorrow CH & I are going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal & do the tourist thing a little. Seeing as she's 5'10" in bare feet & African-American, not to mention model-gorgeous, she's been the subject of great interest whenever we've gone out & about. She keeps calling people "honey" and "sweetheart" in an effort to make them laugh or smile, but hasn't had much success yet. People are embarrassed to be caught staring. They shift their eyes, look away for a moment & then sneak a quick peek again.

I look forward to getting out of Delhi for a day!

Hasta luego,

S.