Two memorable weekends

The last two weekends have been hectic. However, every bit was worth it. First we witnessed a wonderful wedding of Joe and Mary at El Paso. We have known Joe since his childhood. He is the son of two close friends of ours. Joe met Mary at the med school and both are recent graduates. Mary is from El Paso.

On April 8, Saturday morning we flew into El Paso, checked into a room at the hotel. Unfortunately, they only had a smoking room at the time which neither my wife nor I liked. However, we decided to put up with it for a few hours of the night. We quickly got dressed for the Church wedding. A chartered trolley hauled us to the church across town. As we rode, we could see poor side just to the left (south) of us on the other side of a wire fence known as Mexico. There was a border security patrol car driving up and down along side the fence. Yes, to those on the other side, the promise land was a few "long insurmountable" yards away.

The wedding was brief and conducted extremely well by a black female preacher. It was a very welcoming sight to me. Joe and Mary took their vows, kissed each other, and became husband & wife for better and for worse. Then we rode back to the hotel for a grand dinner. The ballroom was full. After dinner, they cut the cake, danced to music and we retired to bed pretty late.

I got up early next morning to ensure that the set up for the Hindu ceremony planned for that morning was ready on time. It was gorgeously decorated with all kinds of flower arrangement. To me these Hispanic woman decorators were artists. The priest arrived and set up the "stuff" needed for the ritual. We had to frantically look for a few little things (like a little honey, a few hundred dollar bills, a place ("man dap" - we found a hard tool box and covered it with nice cloth) to set his tray of offerings). Finally it all came together. The groom arrived at the door of the ballroom where bride’s mom welcomed him and the Assamese women did the traditional welcome as well. The bride (Mary) looked marvelous in an authentic Assamese dress and traditional ornaments. The priest conducted the ceremony and tried to explain in English (with his heavy accent) to his American audience. While doing so, he went a little overboard. All in all it was a wonderful ceremony.

As soon as it was over, we rushed to the airport to catch our flight back. We arrived home around 8:00 PM. Poor Tigger was home alone for one night. He was glad to see us. Next morning, it was back to work and the week went by fast.

Last Friday, April 14 was a day off for Good Friday. It was also my wife's birthday. The night before, after my wife went to bed, I quietly set a birthday card and the gifts I had purchased a couple of weeks ago at the breakfast table for my wife to see in the morning. Our younger daughter had sent a couple pictures of flowers (including Cherry blossom) from Tokyo to her older sister in San Francisco. She had those developed, framed, and mailed to my wife (which had arrived on time). I also later brought a small birthday cake. So. It was a quite birthday celebration amongst just two of us. I hope it was good day for her. Our older daughter called (from Chicago) to wish her a happy birthday and to wish all of us "Happy Bihu". The daughter in Tokyo did not forget it either. She had offered a silk "Bihuan" to her Japanese teacher explaining this Assamese New Year and the Bihu tradition. We found that out only from her "blog" site.

Yesterday was our Bihu celebration. It started with me getting to the park at 8:00 AM. Before people started arriving I had the two flags (US and a home made Bihu Flag) set up. The rope for tug-of-war stretched out. People arrived. There was tea with traditional Assamese snacks. Then we all stood around the flags and sang the opening ceremonial song. The Bihu began with Easter egg hunt for the kids, followed by 1-mile walk/run and other events like 1-legged race, 3-legged race, musical chair, tug-of-war, etc. and ended with a game of egg-toss. The most fun part was the tug-of-war. We also had a fantastic barbeque lunch. At the end of the day event there was an award ceremony. The children were ecstatic to receive trophies. Everyone received something. After all it was Bihu time, a time of giving, blessing, and having fun.

We rushed home to get ready for the evening cultural program. It started with an excellent talk by renowned journalist Sanjoy Hazarika about migration and insurgency in the northeast. We also had a sumptuous dinner (catered) outdoor (just outside the hall). The weather was a perfect Bihu weather with nice breeze. Obviously, Bihu is not a Bihu without Bihu dance and music. People sang and danced until we had to vacate the room. Thus came the end of our Bihu celebration till this time next year.

Tomorrow is Monday. I fly to an offshore oilrig. I too have to work for a living and continue to oil that American industrial machinery.