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,
00:14and 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,
00:22and 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.
00:57Um, so 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,
01:09uh, versus...
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
01:19is, like, 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, we'll see if we can pull it off,
01:30to try to merge the two, uh,
01:32and try to do it, you know, in a timely manner.
01:39Today we have the Sangeet.
01:40It's basically a big carnival, party, festival thing.
01:46Translated from Sanskrit, Sangeet means sung together.
01:50Traditionally, this event was female only,
01:52but in modern times,
01:54both genders participate in what's become
01:56a Bollywood-style talent show.
01:59It has lots of dance performances from 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 homes.
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 of making your skin glow.
03:03A lot of these traditions are part beauty, part religious.
03:08In addition to the Haldi,
03:10the bride is gifted a set of 21 red or maroon bangles
03:13for the chura ceremony.
03:15Your mom's brother, so 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,
03:27come and tie these gold galire.
03:30Shaped like coconuts,
03:32galire symbolized 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 I'm getting some help
03:56getting my outfit on.
03:58Takes 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.
04:16We'll make you up about to fall, sorry.
04:19Seems like red goes my complexity better than gold's,
04:23going with red.
04:36What was the war?
04:37No, it's starting to war again.
04:38Let's go.
04:40It's time for the barat,
04:41or bridal procession.
04:43I 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.
04:51So I'm going traditional,
04:53going with a white horse,
04:54although many people...
04:55I wanted an elephant.
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.
05:08All right.
05:19So you pull up and my cousins and my siblings,
05:22they're 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.
05:40Okay.
05:55Now, it's wedding time.
06:06In South Indian tradition,
06:08the 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 Tarsh's parents
06:19if it would be fine
06:20if 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?
06:29So we are going to look at each other.
06:33And we are going to find each other.
06:42And we are going to find each other
06:51Some people in the house
06:54will arise
06:54no, you're going to find each other.
06:54And we are going to find each other.
06:55or sheet made from her mother's wedding sari.
07:00So it's really nice to come in with some of your mom's blessings
07:02and a little bit of history.
07:08A bit 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
07:15is supposed to have, like, the power or 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 at 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.
07:55The wedding can be removed.
07:57Yay!
08:02I do pronounce you husband and wife.
08:13The wedding is, like, a new start in life.
08:17It's an amazing thing to be able to, like, open up and be like,
08:19I'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.
08:34I love you.
08:42I'm doing it.
08:45And younessy is, like, art tonight.
08:45that. I love you,
