Taste of India

Katy: In early June, I went to our mailbox to find the largest and most ornate wedding invitation waiting for me that I've ever seen. It actually didn't even fit in the mailbox, it was waiting for us by our apartment door, it was so big. Printed on gold sparkly paper and covered in jewels, I discovered with surprise that Ben and I were invited to the wedding of my oldest friend, Mital.

To make a long story super short, Mital and I met on the school bus our first day of kindergarten and have remained friends ever since. Our school bus rides evolved into trips to France, Spain, and San Diego in high school, and included a few nights on "The Hill" for these Cedar Falls chicks. Because Mital went to the University of Iowa and then on to med school and Ben and I have moved to Chicago, we've fallen in and out of touch the last three years. You could say that I was thrilled (to say the least) that we would go to her wedding.

Conveniently, it was in a Chicago suburb, so I immediately informed Ben that we were going if he liked it or not. AND we'd know no one, except the bride and her family. AND it'd be a traditional Indian wedding. AND that's the way it's gonna be; we're going. He's a good guy for letting me drag him around like this. He took it well, but I secretly think he was just stoked to use the occasion to break out his suit and get all dressed up. He's kinda like that.

Ben: Who knew that such diversity and culture awaited us in the suburbs? (Elitist.) Skokie never struck me as a cultural melting pot, but then again no one ever accused me of being the brains of this operation ('brawn' is another matter). We arrived at the Skokie Holiday Inn strangers in a strange land. I was certainly the whitest guy there, but really, that's not saying much. I've been at Albino Conventions where I'm the whitest guy in the room.

Seeking out alcohol to ease our social anxiety, we stood there with our drinks, going through the awkward yet obligatory reception exercise of 'milling around'. I probably asked Katy, "Do you need another drink?" upwards of 84 times in the first hour. I am the JD Salinger of social mingling.

Katy: Yeah, I'll admit, we're two somewhat introverted people when facing a crowd of strangers. We've discussed at length several times how it really would've worked out to our favor if at least ONE of us were extremely outgoing and the other could just cling on for dear life and vibe off the other. Instead, we're both wallflowers...but we make it work! I personally like to use my shoes as an icebreaker. Luckily lots of gals will come up to ask me about shoes. Nice. It's a very high level socialization technique. Very advanced. Try at your own risk, especially if you are a man.



Ben: There was a room adjacent to the main hall that was lined with buffet tables brimming with exotic appetizers. We loaded up on samosas (the Indian version of a crab rangoon; puff pastry deep fried and filled with potatoes, peas and onion) and some sort of tempura vegetables. Both were fantastic. I immediately proclaimed that the next weekend would be spent in my underwear on the couch, eating frozen samosas and watching The Darjeeling Limited.

After a while, we entered the main ballroom for dinner. Assigned seats. They put us next to the other scared foreigners. We sat next to a nice couple from Omaha named Sarah and Mike. They were very pleasant, and Sarah was one of the only girls besides Katy that wasn't wearing a traditional sari. Alas, Sarah and Mike didn't imbibe in alcohol, said grace before their meal and talked of leaving early for the night, so our friendship was clearly temporary and forged out of necessity.

It really wasn't too far removed from your typical Anglo wedding. The best man and groomsmen spoke, along with the parents. They cut the cake. (I cut the cheese. Hi-Yo!) There was a first dance, a champagne toast and jokes by the Dads that were heartfelt and laughed at out of courteously.

The meal was great. I am no Indian food expert (my expertise lies in margaritas and mashed potatoes), having only really tried it a handful of times, but this was better than most of the Indian buffets we've been to. And it was vegetarian to boot. Don't ask me to recall the names of everything that we tried, but it was all really good. Naan (soft Indian bread), lentils, some sort of spiced cauliflower and then a version of 'butter chicken' (but instead of chicken, tofu!) served over rice all made for a very interesting meal. Normally I would shake my fist and curse hippies at the mere thought of tofu, but this was quite tasty. To borrow and overused cliche, it tasted like chicken.

After that it was on to the dance floor. Lots of Indian pop songs, which were catchy in their own right. Some song about going to the disco was played at least twice to enthusiastic results. I need to talk to someone over there about updating the word 'disco'. It's also good to know that despite cultural differences, the Indian people still enjoy singing along to 'Livin' On a Prayer' as much as the next Joker's regular. After the grandparents went to bed, the DJ broke out the American staples. Jay Z and of course, Bel Biv Devoe. The bartender knew us by name, and by the end of the night when he saw me coming, he immediately had two Corona's waiting by the time I got there. That's my kind of service.

Katy: I have to agree with Ben here. There were lots of jokes and drinks flowing. This crew was getting down. Mital's younger brother was even wearing pimpy white Saturday Night Fever style shoes. Everyone, even Mital's grandmother (who was in her 80s back in the '80's) was busting a move on the dance floor. No one was sitting in their seats once the dance started. And I dig the Indian music. I was jealous of all the beautiful young gals in their colorful and sparkly saris. I'll admit it. I may have to take a trip up to Devon Avenue to rent a Bollywood movie and purchase a sari for myself. It was a very cool experience.

I'm so glad that I was able to see Mital and her family again after all these years. Ajay, her husband, seemed great and we wish them all the best.

Ben: It was a long but fruitful night. Mital looked great and her husband seemed nice, from what could be gleaned from a 3 minute conversation. All in all, a great success!



The main ballroom. As the kids say, this is where all the magic happens.



Katy and Ben, circa 2008. We clean up nice eh? Well Katy does at least. But don't put it past me to sell you some insurance.

Katy and the blushing bride, Mital.


The meal. The orange stuff is the tofu, which was better than it had any right to be. The brown stuff is lentils; basically tasted like yummy beans. The stuff in the back is the naan. Then there's a big tortilla chip type thing. The desert is in the back where you can't really see it. Carrot cake and some orange concoction that elicited a soft, but audible, "mmmm".



Handfelt Happy Hour staple. The self snapped photo.



I usually charge money to teach fools these kind of dance moves.




This is reminiscent of the celebration that occurred when I won 8th Grade MVP for Blessed Sacrament football.