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What to Pack for Your Honeymoon?

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In the commotion of the wedding, we often overlook the need to be prepared for the first trip together. We may be completely absorbed in planning for our wedding, going through various matrimonial sites or related content. As a result, planning for a honeymoon might go on the backburner. And the result may be a haphazardly packed suitcase for your honeymoon. Yes, wedding needs and deserves all your time and effort, but the importance of a honeymoon is something that you must not overlook. It will be your first trip together, as a married couple, and you will be able to spend time together. It will also give you a much-needed break right after your wedding. For the Indian bride and groom, who hardly get a moment together alone, it will be the perfect time for you to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

And, we do not want you to miss the opportunity to make it special or to leave anything important behind. The following is a quick look at all that you need to carry along (or leave back).

Know What Is Suitable

One size does not fit all. What may be preferable for one destination may not work for another. So, do thorough research on your destination and then choose what you may want to carry along. Look for information on the expected temperature range, chances of rainfall, local sensitivities, and the likes. In case you have not yet prepared an itinerary, you should at least know the kinds of activities you might want to be a part of. And if you do, check for any specific clothing requirement. For example, for parasailing, you may want to keep a pair of shorts, or if you are the adventure type, then a hiking outfit should go in along with the other clothes as well.

Keep A Formal – Just in Case

Even if you love the idea of being casual in flip flops and walk-in quaint little towns, consider keeping a formal outfit, just in case. You never know when a chance for a formal dinner or a lunch might show up, and you would not want to be dressed in casuals. So, do keep at least one for that special meal!

For Your Feet

Leave some of your attention to the selection of your footwear too. Often, our clothes get all the attention while our feet get none. So, depending upon the kind of honeymoon destination you pick, select your shoes. No matter what you choose, your bag must always include one comfortable walking shoes and one formal pair of shoes (to go with that formal outfit).

Don’t Forget SOS

We do hope that all goes well and you never have the need to use medicines, but, it makes complete sense to keep some medicines for common ailments like fever, stomach infections, or anything that you may be prone to. You would not want to run around in a new place looking for medicines! So, include a just-in-case, medicines kit with your belongings as well.

Honeymoon can be the start of the memories of a lifetime that you will cherish all your life. So, spend a little time on planning for it and enjoy!

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Making marriage work for two professionals

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In today’s competitive world, we often find both the partners in a marriage, working. This may be either out of choice or a necessity to live a comfortable life. In either case, sometimes couples may find it increasingly difficult to make things work. With both constantly juggling careers and relationship to make time for projects, travelling, long working hours and at the same time, for each other, there may hardly any time left for each other. So much so, that sometimes we may start to feel matrimony being a hindrance to our career growth and then, things may start to change for the worse.
At the same time, having a partner alongside should only prove to be a blessing, both in the professional space, as well as personal. If you follow our guide, balancing career and marriage should no longer seem to be difficult.

Don’t take work home
This may sound obvious, but in practice, it may be hard to follow. Most of the times, it is not the long hours spent in the office, but lack of attention at home that causes friction between husband and wife. Often, when we leave from office, we carry home our frustrations, our unfinished work and sometimes, even grudges. This may tantamount to venting these feelings on to our partner. Agreed, we must communicate with our partners, but it must not become a practice to dump our negative feelings on the other person.

Another golden rule could be to keep the phone away. Yes, try to keep the evening slot for the both of you. This means no work-related phone calls and no emails, as much as possible.

Keep one day for you both

Allocating and reserving one day for you both is a great idea to adopt and follow. Try doing what you love doing – together, as a team! Whether this is shopping or dining or watching movies together. Do things that you both enjoy doing and it may surprise you how you may start looking forward to that one day!

Divide your chores
Times are changing and so are the traditional roles. We may know this, yes, but it may often become a necessity to remind ourselves once a while. Remember, when both are working, by the end of the day a long day at work is enough to drain you both physically and emotionally. Always be aware of this and try to be as accommodating as possible. Putting food on the plate, for example, should no longer be a task reserved for the typical Indian bride or the bahu of the house. If it must be, then perhaps tasks like clearing the table or doing the grocery etc., can be shared by the other partner. This will hold true even later, when the family grows and when the tasks for bringing up of children must be shared.

Having the comfort that you always have someone to take over, in case you have longer hours for few days is a great feeling. And if you are able to manage your relationship by following these simple rules, you will be thankful for being married.

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Exploring Assamese Wedding Rituals

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India is a diverse country with varied cultures and traditions. It is only natural that weddings are performed differently in different cultures. And there is no better opportunity to understand culture and traditions of a select group than to visit a traditional wedding. Assamese weddings are what we are exploring in this article. ‘Biya’ as they are generally referred to in their local language is characterized by some pre-wedding and wedding rituals. They are carried out over a period of two-three days and are full of color and festivities and bear a strong cultural influence. One of the unique features of these weddings is the traditional ‘Biya geet’ or ‘Biya naam,’ which are traditional songs sung by the women of the Assamese community throughout the wedding festivities.

A glimpse into a traditional ‘Biya’ is given below:

Before the start of any rituals for the wedding, a string of mango leaves is tied on every door of the house. This is thought to ward off any evil intention or negative energy – which is called ‘aam dali gotha.’ With the auspicious setting, Juran Diya follows. The thought behind this ceremony is to shower the ‘bride to be’ with gifts. During the ceremony, the groom’s mother visits the bride’s family with a number of female relatives and presents her with gifts – the wedding attire, makeup, and jewelry. The groom first touches everything given to the bride!

A part of the Juran Diya is Tel Diya ceremony where a ring and a betel nut are placed on the bride’s hair by the mother of the groom. Oil is poured over this thrice, and vermillion is applied. Interestingly, in Assamese weddings, this is the only time vermillion or sindoor is applied. The husband does not apply the sindoor. Only mom-in-law does. Equivalent to ‘Ghadoli’ in Punjabi weddings is the custom of ‘Pani Tola.’ Both the mothers gather water from a nearby pond or river for a ceremonial bath before the wedding. A coin and a knife are given to the ‘soon to be a couple,’ which have to be carried everywhere with them until the wedding is concluded.

For the sacred bath, both the bride and the groom at their respective places are made to sit on seats created with four young banana plants. Oil, a paste of lentils, curd, and turmeric, are applied on their heads, and the ceremony is concluded with sacred water being poured on their heads.

On the day of the wedding, the Assamese groom, ready in his attire gifted by the bride’s family, arrives at the place of the wedding. Interestingly, it is considered inauspicious for the mother of the groom to be a part of the ceremony! So, she leaves before the wedding concludes.

Weddings are more than just ceremonies. They are a culmination of two families and, especially the bride and the groom, who are embarking on their journey towards  matrimonial  bliss! Although weddings across the country may seem different, they all seek to celebrate the union of the two souls – they are full of joy, celebrations, and love for the new couple for their ever-lasting love and companionship!

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Significance of Solah Shringaar

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Solah Shringar is said to enhance the beauty of the Indian bride during matrimony. The number 16 (Solah) is supposed to correspond to the various phases of the moon and Shringar is derived from ‘Shri’, Lakshmi. Matrimonial sites are now focusing on educating the modern woman about ancient traditions and embrace them.

1. Bindi:

It is the coloured red dot that women wear at the centre of their forehead; said to symbolise the elusive third eye-for wisdom, luck and prosperity.

2. Sindoor:

A red-coloured powder (usually kumkum) applied on the parting of the hair, considered auspicious for the well-being of her Indian groom.

3. Maang Tika:

The first piece of jewellery that goes on the Indian bride’s body, applied to the parting of the hair with a chain attached to the hair.

4. Kajal or Anjana:

A black dye preparation, generally applied to the eyes, said to protect and provide a cooling effect, accentuate the shape and beauty of her eyes and make it more alluring.

5. Nath:

Nath is worn through the left nostril by the bride on wedding and other auspicious occasions, sometimes with a chain that extends behind the left ear.

6. Karn Phool:

This is a must in an Indian bride’s matrimonial attire. Earrings usually elaborate, comes as a set with the bridal necklace.

7. Haar:

The Haar is to be worn around the neck, could be Sita-Haar, Choker. The most traditional haar is the mangalsutra, given by the husband on the matrimonial day and made of black beads.

8. Mehendi:

Applied to decorate the hands and feet of the Indian bride. The richness of the colour symbolizes luck, prosperity and fertility and provides a soothing effect on the skin.

9. Bajubandh:

The bajuband is an ornament to be worn on the upper arms, to have a slenderising effect on the arms.

10. Bangles:

Bangles are to be worn in forearms by the bride and come in variety of shapes and designs and materials.

11. Aarsi and Haathful:

Haathful comprises of four or five rings worn on the arm fingers with chains attaching them to a bracelet. Aarsi is a traditional thumb ring studded with a mirror, to allow the bride catch a glimpse of her groom in it.

12. Kamarbandh:

A gold or silver belt meant for the bride to wear around her waist. Traditionally, this was an ornament to secure the saree and emphasise the slenderness of her waist.

13. Payals:

Chains worn around the ankles, could be a simple or elaborate, may have a bunch of chiming beads attached. Wearing gold on feet is considered to be inauspicious, payals are made of silver.

14. Bichhua:

This is mostly worn on the second toe of the left feet, said to enhance fertility in married women and made of silver.

15. Fragrance/Sugandh:

Applied to the bride to smell pleasant throughout the wedding ritual, meant to soothe her nerves.

16. Keshapasharachana:

Traditionally, the hair bun is adorned with fresh, fragrant flowers along with other hair adornments, preferable gold.

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Do Not Try to Change Your Spouse, Embrace Them for Who They Are

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No human being is perfect, every person in this world has multiple flaws in their character, even you and you cannot deny this fact. Therefore, it means that the person you are married to isn’t perfect either, and they have their own sets of flaws. So, what do you do when you come across a flaw in your spouse? Do you lash out them? Do you nicely ask them to change the habit or behaviour that you consider a flaw? Or do you do nothing?

A lot of people will be inclined to choose the second option, when you do not like something your spouse does or says, asking them not to do it anymore seems like a reasonable thing to do, and make no mistake, it is alright to do that. But, is it the proper thing to do? The answer is no. What you need to understand is that change is not something that happens overnight, and in some cases, it may not happen at all. It is not the fault of your spouse if they cannot change the way you want them to, they might be really trying hard, and you probably would not have realized it, or maybe they were not trying hard enough because they did not want to change. And they cannot be found at fault in both the cases.

First of all, it is you who wants them to change and they are not doing it out of their own will. Changing a character trait is no simple thing, unless and until the person really wants to bring about the change, there is no chance of it happening. So, forcing your partner to do something they do not want to do in the first place is of no use at all. Secondly, remember what love is about? It is all about loving every little part of each other, both the good and the bad which means that you have to embrace each other’s flaws. Otherwise, you need not be together at all. What is love without acceptance? And what is a matrimony without love?

Yes, obviously it is not going to be easy. Your spouse may do or say a lot of things that might irritate you, even drive you nuts, but this is the place you have to apply one of the key principles of every successful marriage – compromise. It starts by accepting the fact that whatever you do, you cannot change your spouse, because however long you search, no matrimonial site is going to help you find a spouse who has no fault at all. And once you accept that fact, you will automatically move on towards embracing your partner for who they are. Once you do that, you might start feeling the change yourself. The things that made you feel like going on a rampage before will no longer even bother you. In fact, you may find yourself laughing at how silly you were to have lost your cool about something so trivial. Indian Brides  and Grooms may benefit a lot from following this simple thing as arranged marriages mean you often have little or no time to know your partner before you have already tied the knot.

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