Another Desi couple has a story about their courtship and wedding in the New York Times’ “Weddings and Celebrations” section. Congratulations to Dr. Anu Lala and Dr. Arvind Trindade:

The Desi weddings they are interested in are usually the ones that have a hint of drama. In this case, the groom is a Goan Christian, while the bride is a Hindu from a devout family:

Briefly, she had thought that Dr. Trindade, whose family is from the state of Goa in India, a former Portugese colony, might be the “Hindu dude” she had always imagined marrying. “We liked each other from the get-go,” she said. “We clicked. But when I found out he was not Hindu, but in fact Christian, I thought, ‘Well, it’s over.’ ”

Dr. Lala, who often adds quotes from her favorite Hindu philosophers and poets at the bottom of her e-mail messages, said she feared that her parents would disapprove and she did not want to disappoint them.

“Anu is full of life, a great sense of humor, very versatile and duty-conscious,” said Harish Alwani, a cousin of Dr. Lala’s. “She’s a family person. Her parents are her world.” (link)

They had some challenges along the way, but in the end their respective parents came around and supported them. The reporter gets a little extra-gushy when describing the actual wedding ceremony at Tavern on the Green in Central Park (great choice of venue, I must say):

On July 19, the couple were married in front of 150 guests in Central Park at Tavern on the Green in a ceremony that combined Christian and Hindu traditions. Everything in the room — from the crystal chandeliers, to the embroidered purses and shoes — glittered and sparkled like the eyes of people in love. The bride was carried into the room on an ornate sedan chair, seated serenely on a pillow, wearing a red sari and bangles.

The event began with a Christian ceremony, with the Rev. David J. Robb, a minister of the United Church of Christ, officiating.

Then the couple sat down cross-legged with Bhawani Mukherjee, who began the Hindu part of the wedding by building a small fire and chanting prayers as the couple threw flower petals and rice into the flames.

At one point, the couple stood and walked on seven fabric lily pads arranged on the floor, hopping from pad to pad as if they were crossing a pond together and reciting one vow per pad.(link)

(That last detail about the lily pads might be just a little too cute, isn’t it?)

It’s wedding season, and I imagine some readers have probably been going from place to place, watching friends and family tie the knot. Does anyone have any interesting wedding stories from the summer to share, including — but not limited to — inventive cross-cultural/cross-religious arrangements?

(One caution: while Trindade & Lala openly agreed to publicize their romance, we don’t want to invade anybody’s privacy, so please try and make sure it’s safe to share your story publicly. Thanks.) Continue reading →

On the News Tab, KXB linked to an article in the New York Times regarding the relationship between the C.I.A. and Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency, the I.S.I. Most recently, the I.S.I. is thought by some to have been behind the dastardly terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month (see this story), though I don’t there is any conclusive evidence of that. Some in India have also blamed the I.S.I. for any number of terrorist attacks over the past six years, sometimes merely on suspicion.

But what is less talked about is the fact that American intelligence operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan have for years been deeply dependent on the I.S.I., even as Americans have known about the I.S.I.’s links to terrorists.

Given that history, it’s no surprise that the C.I.A. and the I.S.I. don’t trust each other at all:

But most C.I.A. veterans agree that no relationship between the spy agency and a foreign intelligence service is quite as byzantine, or as maddening, as that between the C.I.A. and Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or I.S.I.

It is like a bad marriage in which both spouses have long stopped trusting each other, but would never think of breaking up because they have become so mutually dependent.

Without the I.S.I.’s help, American spies in Pakistan would be incapable of carrying out their primary mission in the country: hunting Islamic militants, including top members of Al Qaeda. Without the millions of covert American dollars sent annually to Pakistan, the I.S.I. would have trouble competing with the spy service of its archrival, India. (link)

The article does offer one interesting explanation as to why the ISI might have, to begin with, cultivated ties with questionable individuals in the NWFP — ethnicity and language:

Even the powerful I.S.I., which is dominated by Punjabis, Pakistan’s largest ethnic group, has difficulties collecting information in the tribal lands, the home of fiercely independent Pashtun tribes. For this reason, the I.S.I. has long been forced to rely on Pashtun tribal leaders — and in some cases Pashtun militants — as key informants.

Also, sometimes the I.S.I. has been incredibly helpful to American interests:

Continue reading →