| Ian's description: |
| 11 January 2003 Dear Friends & Family, Belated season’s greetings from both of us. We’re back at MUWCI (Mahindra United World College) and have just completed what seems like a very long week of school. The skies here are smoky grey and rather monotonous at the moment. It is supposed to be cold but it has been unseasonably warm. Many of you have been waiting to hear the news of our wedding in Kodai and so here it is direct from the source. Our wedding on the 22nd of December and the ten days before and after it went superbly. To start with, we were blessed with sublime, blue-sky, winter weather, something that one can never take for granted in Kodai. All of us had come expecting fog, dampness and severe cold! Yet the sun stayed out on every day and we had chilly star-filled nights. Then we were fortunate to have all sorts of different friends and family at the occasion. People had journeyed to Kodai for the wedding from places as far as Colorado and Switzerland or as close as Shembaganur. Sara Ann and Merrick had laid all the groundwork and our guests found places to stay smoothly. Perhaps best of all was the way that everyone participated in the ceremony and helped make it a meaningful and very special way to start this new adventure together. Raina and I arrived on December 15th and 16th respectively. She had been in Mizoram for the last month and neither of us had enjoyed the separation and distance between us. It was so good to be reunited in Kodai again. The build up to the wedding on the 22nd was steady and filled with many low-key family activities. Relatives and friends started arriving, even before our arrival. The relaxed days before the wedding gave us a chance to spend time with guests, show them Kodai, take a few hikes into the hills and generally celebrate the coming together of so many close friends and family in this very special place. Frank (my mother’s elder brother) and his wife, Mary, were the firsts of our guests to arrive in Kodai. Merrick and I enjoyed taking them for a day’s outing to the top of Perumal peak. The weather was clear and crisp and we could even see the distant Nilgiri Hills sticking out above the northern winter line! Soon after, on the 18th, the big Lockwood clan arrived (Brian, Alex, Maya, Karin, Ana, Ruth, Nancy, Peter and Lauren) from different south Indian points. Brian and Alex, true to form, brought vast quantities of American kitchen items and junk food, soon to be enjoyed during the course of the wedding. Nancy, Peter and Lauren were on their first trip to India and we were all thrilled that they had made the huge effort to be with us for this special event. Ruth, Karin and Ana seemed happy to be on the guest side rather than being hosts. Samir on his first rip to Kodai joined all of us on the 21st just in time for the ceremony. Mathew King, my long time friend, arrived on the 19th, in time to go on the hike and be key player in the ceremonies. Adopted by our family Matt stayed with us for Christmas and after when we were down in Chennai. The 20th was an important day: the ladies had a bridal shower and mehndi party while the men went out on a “bachelor’s hike” to Ku-kaal. Of course our family is rather unconventional and these activities were not strictly “men” and “women” only affairs. The hike to Ku-kaal was a highlight for me. Matthew, Karin and I had been on several hikes there in school together so it was a nice reunion for us. It was also great to have Peter Lockwood along. Our grandfather Edson Lockwood had hiked out here in the 1930s and beyond, and so we enjoyed sharing the place with another member of the Lockwood clan. Leach shola was quite dry and although we were prepared for the parasites, we were disappointed to end up with practically no bites. In fact only yours truly, the groom, got a bite on the way down (I had been too lazy to put my leach socks back on). The view at the temple on the ridge was breathtaking. It was the clearest that I’ve seen it and we enjoyed terrific views of Anai Mudi and the High Range, the Munjumpatti Valley that separates us and the distant Anaimalais. The Nilgiris were so prominent that they almost looked contiguous with our own hill ranges! Meanwhile back in Kodai the ladies had their hands decorated and Raina was gifted with very useful kitchen utensils and flashy undergarments, amongst other things. By the 20th most of our guests had arrived. Lindsay, Allen and several friends of Raina’s from New Delhi arrived in time for the mehndi party. Chantal, a friend of Raina’s who I had met while studying Hindi up in Mussoorie last year, arrived with her boyfriend Bernie from Switzerland. MUWCI colleagues, Beatrice and Bill arrived from Pune. Carl, his girlfriend Natasha and three MUWCI students soon followed them. Friends from Dhaka, Susie, Carol, Pierre and Mumina arrived on the 21st. My Kodai classmates Prasad (and his wife Deepa), Bharati (and her boyfriend Jonathan) all arrived by late on the 20th. On the 21st the sun was shinning brilliantly and the high distant peaks were still protruding above the haze line. We ran around and did errands as we prepared for the practice service that afternoon. During it I was reminded about how fortunate we were to have the good services of Lars Dediken, the Kodai School pastor. A native of Germany with multiple talents (painting, beer brewing, meat smoking), he is as comfortable giving inspiring sermons as he is dancing to techno in leather pants. He and his wife Ulrika (a woman who is as blessed with creative talents as Lars) had recently had a baby girl named Mira. Raina and I had met with them over the summer and in November to plan out the service and work on the readings vows, etc. We were also very lucky to have Bob Granner, Kodai’s long serving English teacher, as our musical organizer and pianist. Not only did he do a super job with the processional music, he helped organize everyone else and guided people to sounding like professionals. Another 20 or so family members and family were involved with readings, music, ushering, lighting candles etc. In fact it had been our intention to involve as many of our close friends and family in the ceremony. After the practice sessions everyone moved over to Shelton and we had a barbeque outside around the bonfire. Allen’s brother Ivan had accompanied the New Delhi group for the wedding. As a chef working at a five-star hotel, he had immediately volunteered to help with preparing the barbeque. It proved to be a delicious affair. Merrick had set up lights for the badminton court and a lighting company had put up strings of party lights. Shelton looked beautiful! When the food was finished Koli got out his guitar and strummed some of our favorites. We were treated to his music for three nights in a row in fact! The night was capped off with a walk to Coaker’s, something that we regrettably missed. Sunday the 22nd was another beautiful winter day. We had breakfast on the lawn behind the house and then started to get ready for the wedding. In a recreation of our former “rose runs” very profitable flower selling before formals, Prasad, Deepa and Matthew generously volunteered to “borrow” some lilies from a neighboring fenced-in plot of land. They did splendidly and soon had about 60 or so beautiful lilies for the church to be decorated with. Ruth and Nancy worked tirelessly on decorating the church as soon as the Sunday service had finished. They tied bows, clipped and presented lilies and poinsettias and made the church beautiful. In the morning while I was running errands I even stopped to photograph Perumal’s clear profile from the budge. The staging ground for both the bride and groom was the KIS Airle apartment of Maureen Fenrando. Beatrice did up Raina’s hair, coiling jasmine flowers through it. Raina wore a traditional Mizo puan (wrap) with a white blouse and looked dazzling. In between running errands, I took a shower and slipped into my Jodhpuri suit that had been tailored in Pune. It was a plain, charcoal black suit, something that gave adequate attention to Raina’s resplendent outfit. Maya, Mom, Dad, Brian and Alex showed up around 2:00. We took a few family pictures and then went up to the church. While Bob played music we sat upstairs in the choir stands and watched the guests come in. Then a little after 3:30 we marched in. Lauren dressed in red and carrying flowers led the procession followed by Matthew and Maya, Brian & Alex and the groom escorted by his parents. Finally Chantal and Lindsay escorted Raina in. We sat in two large chairs facing the altar. There was music by Karin (flute) and singing by Bill Leese and Koli, readings from Corinthians by Frank and poetry by Maya and several hymns. Lars’ message utilized a ragged backpack as a metaphor in illustrating that marriage is like a big “hike” together. The planning is crucial and you need a compass (although I had suggested a “map” to his question about essential items). Chantal and Matt helped him supply us with all the necessities (love, openness, family, friends etc.). Then we took our vows and exchanged rings. There were a few bumps as we stumbled with some of the mouthfuls of vows. Lars, ever smiling helped us through it and soon Brian and Lindsay were handing us our rings. The final event was a singing of the “Irish Blessing” by a group of family and friends. It was a fitting end to the ceremony. We walked out together and then with Lars and the family greeted all the guests. Prasana and Meenakshi of Daily Bread had catered the tea (hot chocolate, brownies, pizza, sandwiches). The sun was still shinning as the guests gathered around. We took numerous group pictures and had a great time talking with old friends and family. Pierre, our photographer/birdwatcher friend from Dhaka ran around with a giant Leica SLR and made sure that everything was recorded on film. By 5:30 most people had left. After changing, Raina and I went up to Coaker’s Walk on the motorcycle. Dad, Chantal and Bernie followed and we walked up and down it as the last light faded from the plains. By darkness, our close friends and family had gathered up at Swedish Hill for a biriyani dinner, drinks, cake and dancing. The party was held in the Nordham Cottage the old social center for Swedish missionaries (much to the amusement of Carl, a Swedish native). A roaring fire in the old fireplace as well as the make shift bar outside both proved to be popular hangouts. Just before Raina and I cut the cake (made by KIS staff friend, Cecilia Winfred), Matthew gave a speech reminding us all about the contract I had signed back in 1989. It sought to punish the first to marry with some creative pranks. Luckily the signed copy had long disappeared and I got off light. We hadn’t got a “professional” music system and DJ. However, the Kholhatkars had donated their large boom box. It did a decent job with sound. I had burnt three CDs of music from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. We had most everyone out dancing for a short time. Even Raina for whom this was a first time. When the music died down and the crowd had thinned, we moved outside around a bonfire. Once again Koli treated us to more of his music and we were amused by the three MUWCI boys doing a makeshift rap song. The rest of the vacation went smoothly. We had several more fine days in Kodai (including Christmas) before we headed down to Mahabalipuram for New Years. Michael and Ruth held a reception for Karin and Samir in Madras, which was a lot of fun. The beach, seafood and waves at Mahabs were great, but how quickly it all slipped by. Slowly everyone departed to return to jobs and winter in North America. Merrick accompanied us back to Pune. It was great to have his help and it has been very nice having him here with us for the last two weeks. We wanted to send a big word of thanks to all of you who made the enormous effort to come to the wedding and/or thought about us on that special day. We realize that many of you wanted to be there but couldn’t. We’ve received a wonderful variety of thoughtful gifts and as time becomes available you’ll be hearing form us in more personal correspondence. Until our next message, stay well Love, Ian and Raina |