Indian wedding: Beach

That’s been three days in Vizag and we still haven’t been to the city itself – neither around: all the time has been devoted to sleeping, eating, getting dressed, attending the ceremonies, exposing yourself, discussing the other. But the day has come – today the main function (reception) is meant to be in the evening, so the mamajies took us for a drive around. Early morning we had to get up, though.



Young crowd has loaded into 3 cars and the trip kicked off. Driving around this southern city generously hugged by the sun evokes really great idle feeling. With a/c and high-beat Hindi music on we are heading to the beach. Nice small talks – people wonder what I am doing in India, I wonder what life in India is like. We are somewhere at the outskirts of the Vizag , but the roads are very good and the place seems pretty much developed. I think it’s the first time I saw a women riding motorbike in India (later on I got told it’s quite common in Southern India).. and for some reason – lots of schoolgirls around. Lively illustrations to what they write about women in the South – more liberated ones.

After a while we reach the beach


and I am getting ultimately hilarious as I can hardly believe it is all happening to me: endless green, warm and salty see (Bay of Bengal, in fact) I’ve never experienced before. And the beach is so huge with a proper motorway and fancy residential houses along it.








Guys start playing with waves





and after a short hesitation I join them. Surprisingly, people do not swim here (well, waves are big and strong enough to scare away and on the way back I notice a sign “Swimming prohibited”). Later on, I got to know from Indian people themselves that not many of them can swim at all. Somewhat shocking information for me, a girl from the Volga river who never learnt to swim herself. I realize that putting on bikini would be quite a step considering the settings – there is already a crowd of gapers around and we do not need to grow it. So, the guys would rush into the waves with their cloths on – so do I. We would go as pairs or trios and holding each other would try to guess how the coming wave would behave. It’s tricky not no fall when a wave comes and funny to let yourself float when a wave comes back from the shore. It takes less than 2 minutes to get soaking wet and messy in this wave game, but playing is fun.

Time to leave though and to rush for some more destinations. Already less, but still – wet we get into cars: with changing crew and pilots every time - so amazing that people are just taking over and drive – ultimate freedom and fun (the cars belong to the family, so everything is nicely provided)

We drive along the beachside and it’s awesome views that we get exposed to, soon we reach some hill from where we get a view over the port.





All the area is marked with “prohibited area” signs. So a policeman comes to make sure we cannot even take pics, but needless to say we’ve already made plenty



– so we’re heading further on.

Just last night at the wedding itself I got to speak to a couple who told me about some landmarks in Vizag, one of them being Kailash Hill… and…what a wonder!!!! We are heading exactly there this time. On the top of the hill (do not you think we walked?... in this country you only drive) there is a nice park with neatly arranged paths, plants, figures of animals









and statue of Shiva.


But moreover it’s from here where you get a splendid panoramic view of the whole city,



the Bay of Bengal and not at least – the Dolphin nose.





Oh, wow – I’ve never been so south, so I just stay at this observation spot and watch the green sea, read soils and green sponge-like hills. Group pictures come in abundance and after a short while we are relaxing with lassi (yogurt…) and almond milk – yummiest thing ever – I got two and finished both off … in small glass bottles whereas lassi and butter milk comes in 200 ml small rectangular plastic bags for those a bit of its edge and it is served this a straw – funny thing!



The whole bunch of us singing and dancing all the time – in the car, while walking… and the best part it’s not only girls who are so musical and plastic, but also guys are. At times, I feel as a part of a Bollywood movie – being in this young crowd hanging around, singing, dancing and playing – hei, this is not just movies. This is what reality here is like.

…. Truly – traveling in India is about meeting people on the first place and only then – about going to places where actually the people you’ve met would bring you to.