Baby Shower - Indian Style

Sarah and I had the honor of going to our first Indian baby shower for our friend Hemali. The event was formal so Sarah and I decided to wear our normal church attire. It is our understanding that in the Indian culture that first babies are a huge deal. Hemali's family came from all over just to celebrate. The baby shower was a lot of fun and made our baby showers look like an afternoon tea party at the local 7-11.

The shower was in a ballroom which was beautifully decorated. When we first arrived there were very little people there. There were a few Indians but most of them were dressed it normal clothes. Sarah and I thought we had been pranked. Luckily after a few minutes a lot people arrived sporting the same type of dress we were wearing. The afternoon began with a nice appetizer which would have been more appetizing if it had not been like eating fire (can someone help me understand the correlation between spicy food and runny noses). For those of you don't know me, I don't really like spicy food. Really the spiciest thing I like is ketchup.

After sharing a small meal it was time for the games. The first game we played was baby B-i-n-g-o which I happen to win. I then embarrassed Sarah by grabbing the microphone on the way to retrieve my prize to thank my parents, producers, etc. After baby b-i-n-g-o we played a "couples" game with three other couples. This game was set-up as a relay and involved Jello, a baby bib and a large adult diaper...yes Sarah had to put the diaper on me. Just the thought of those pictures getting out gives me a stomach ulcer.

After games Hemali and Chintu were sweet enough to have lunch provided for the 100 or so people that were attending the shower. Oddly enough the lunch looked very similar to the appetizers. To my delight, however, this time the food was much spicier. The waitress stood next to my chair in order to refill my water glass that I downed after every bite. Even after drinking all that water I think I was dehydrated because the food caused me to sweat and for my nose to continuously run. To top it all off, I knew i could brave the spiciness for some nice tender pieces of chicken. The problem was the "chicken" wasn't chicken at all. It was smashed together squares of tofu...Glory be!

I must say...as you can tell...Sarah looked really beautiful. I am always amazed at how beautiful Sarah looks no matter what she is wearing.