00:00My culture is very much my family.
00:02This is Sonya.
00:04I definitely insisted that you, like,
00:06ask my parents for permission.
00:08And this is Harsh.
00:09I just follow the instructions.
00:11Hinduism, some are vegetarians, and some eat meat.
00:15Meat-eaters.
00:16Yeah.
00:17Over the next 72 hours,
00:19they'll dance to Bollywood's greatest hits,
00:21get covered in turmeric, and ride a wild animal.
00:24I wanted an elephant.
00:25Yeah, they're legal in New Jersey, apparently.
00:28I think it's more about
00:30what our parents and grandparents want, honestly.
00:33I mean, I think it's really important to them
00:34that the wedding is done in a way
00:36that they think, like, honors certain traditions.
00:39We won't be kissing at the end.
00:40Yeah, there's no kissing.
00:45Even though both their families are Hindu,
00:47Sonya and Harsh come from very different regions
00:49and cultures in India.
00:51The secret trick is the further south in India they're from,
00:53the more traditional and, some might say, nerdy they are.
00:58So, I would say...
01:00Culturally, South Indians,
01:01the ceremony is the focus of the wedding,
01:03the wedding being somewhat of a spiritual event.
01:06The surrounding events around it are quite minimal,
01:10versus...
01:11Oh, sure.
01:13My family's Punjabi,
01:14and Punjabis are known for being loud and boisterous.
01:17In North India, it'll be like the marriage ceremony's,
01:19like, going off to the side,
01:20and everybody else is, like, at the bar,
01:22like, eating at the buffet,
01:23and, like, no one's actually watching the couple get married.
01:28We're committed.
01:29We'll see if we can pull it off
01:30to try to merge the two,
01:31uh, and try to do it, you know,
01:33in a timely manner.
01:39Today we have the Sangeet.
01:41It's basically a big carnival party festival thing.
01:46Translated from Sanskrit,
01:47Sangeet means sung together.
01:50Traditionally, this event was female only.
01:52But in modern times,
01:54both genders participate
01:55in what's become a Bollywood-style talent show.
01:59It has lots of dance performances
02:01from friends and family.
02:02It's really celebratory,
02:03and it's a way to kick off the whole event.
02:10It's definitely a big part of Punjabi culture
02:13and North Indian culture.
02:14It's less so in South Indian culture.
02:15That being said,
02:17the South Indians definitely bring it.
02:34The morning of the wedding,
02:35the bride and the groom perform the Haldi,
02:37or turmeric ceremony,
02:38in their separate home.
02:41Family members anoint the bride and groom
02:43with turmeric paste.
02:47Good job!
02:51This ritual purifies the bride and groom,
02:54surrounds them in blessings,
02:56and wards off the evil eye.
03:00It has the added benefit
03:02of making your skin glow.
03:03A lot of these traditions
03:04are part beauty, part religious.
03:08in addition to the Haldi,
03:10the bride is gifted a set of 21 red
03:12or maroon fangles for the chura ceremony.
03:15Your mom's brother,
03:17so your uncle,
03:17helps you put the chura on.
03:21And then all of your sisters,
03:23I think particularly unmarried sisters,
03:25unmarried ladies in the home,
03:26common tie these gold galire.
03:30Shaped like coconuts,
03:32Galita symbolize prosperity.
03:42What I will be wearing is a shirwani,
03:45which is a royal coat of sorts.
03:47It's got a decent amount of gold sparkles,
03:50and so you'll know I'm the groom.
03:51I picked it.
03:54What's happening now is
03:55I'm getting some help
03:56getting my outfit on.
03:58It takes a village, as they say.
04:01Red and gold are very traditional,
04:03auspicious colors for an Indian wedding,
04:04and so that's kind of what I'm going with.
04:08I'll be wearing a lenga,
04:10which is basically,
04:11if I had to put it in layman's terms,
04:12it's like a big skirt and a crop top.
04:16Oh, I'm making up about to fall, sorry.
04:19Seems like red goes by complexity,
04:21better than gold going with red.
04:36What was the boy?
04:37No, it's starting to pour again.
04:38Let's go.
04:40It's time for the barat,
04:41or bridal procession.
04:42I get to pick an animal of my choosing
04:45to go from my village,
04:47the house next door,
04:48to this village
04:49to find my bride,
04:51right here.
04:52So I'm going traditional,
04:53going with a white horse,
04:54although many people...
04:55I wanted an elephant.
04:56Yeah.
04:58By the way, by the way,
04:59do not go until I'm on the horse.
05:01That could take me a while.
05:07Yeah.
05:19So you pull up,
05:20and my cousins and my siblings
05:21are sort of like,
05:22well, you know,
05:23you want to come in and take your bride?
05:24Like, let's go.
05:25Like, what's in it for us?
05:26There's a couple of points.
05:27Do they take Amazon gift cards?
05:28They will take Amazon gift cards.
05:34Once he crosses the barrier
05:35and my family has decided
05:36that they have been paid enough,
05:38you can come in.
05:39Okay.
05:55Now, it's wedding time.
06:06In South Indian tradition,
06:07the bride and groom
06:08don't see each other
06:09before certain rituals are performed.
06:12In American weddings,
06:13people come down the aisle
06:14and it's a big moment
06:15when the groom
06:16watches his bride come down.
06:17So we asked Harsh's parents
06:19if it would be fine
06:19if they would let us see each other
06:21so we could have that visual.
06:24Aren't you glad
06:25we're going to look at each other?
06:26Well, the bride and groom
06:34I've moved there.
06:43We've been praying
06:44that we are going to work
06:48and we're going to look
06:49out of our bodies
06:49now.
06:49We're going to work
06:51according to the sound
06:52We're going to work
06:53if that's where we are
06:53to celebrate this.
06:54We're going to work
06:54and with our friends
06:54and our friends
06:54were watching the spread.
06:55We're going to help
06:56or sheet made from her mother's wedding sari.
07:00So it's really nice to come in
07:01with some of your mom's blessings
07:02and a little bit of history.
07:08Bit of a tension in there.
07:10You try to kind of angle to get the garland on first
07:13and whoever gets their garland on first
07:14is supposed to have like the power
07:16or the upper hand in the marriage.
07:33Sonia and Harsh are now separated by the teresala,
07:37a curtain for the remainder of the ceremony.
07:40The Jilakara Balam is the main event
07:43at South Indian weddings.
07:44The couple takes a paste of bitter and sweet herbs
07:47and places their hands on each other's heads.
07:50The different flavors are meant to represent
07:52the joys and struggles of life.
07:56You can also be removed.
07:57Yay!
08:02I do pronounce you husband and wife.
08:06Yes!
08:13The wedding is like a new start in life.
08:17It's an amazing thing to be able to, like, open up
08:19and be like, I'm taking on a new set of parents
08:21and I'm going to love and respect them
08:23just as much as I love and respect my own parents.
08:28Sonia and Harsh pulled off their wedding with a fusion and a twist.
08:32And the absence of a kiss.
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