Nearly midway through our stay in India, Tina and I had the good fortune to attend a reputably magnificent Indian wedding in the capitol, New Delhi. I have a good friend from school, Avlok Kohli, who heard we were headed to India and insisted that we attend his cousin’s wedding.

Both Tina and I are so deeply grateful that we did because it offered us a view of India that was both amazing and completely unlike anything we had seen so far, or expected to see. For a traveller there are two completely different views of India; from the outside looking in and from the inside looking out. The extended family is the atomic institution upon which India is built, and once accepted as a family member, the world instantly lights up.

When we arrived in Delhi on a flight from Jaipur, we were warmly received by Avlok and his father. Avlok had been sent to another terminal by an official, but once we found each other in the crowd, I felt instantly relieved. Maybe it was a familiar face in an unfamiliar place, or simply a full english conversation, but either way it was welcome after being sick all through Rajasthan. Avlok’s father whisked us off to their flat in south Delhi, quite close to the hotel Puneet found us the first night.

The 3 day festivities were just about to begin at the Kohli residence, and you could hear that life was stirring from four floors down. We mounted the seemingly endless flights of stairs (Curious Note: Why do the Kohli families all have penthouse flats?) to a rush of Kohlis moving in every directions. Grandmothers sit and gossip in Avlok’s parents flat, while across the hall, Sonu’s mother yells at him to quickly get dressed.

Today is Sonu’s wedding day, and as is traditional in India, the festivities are beginning later than planned (also referred to as “Indian Time”). Sonu is just getting out of the shower and we greet him wearing a towel, as he pops his head out of his room to return the marble shattering hindi reply to his mother. His voice becomes much softer and genuinely kind when Avlok introduces us. Before we have the chance to sit down and share a cup of chai, we are rushed off across town.