Q4 Week 5 Posts A/B

Post A
In this section of the book I think the most significant difference I saw occurred during Gogol's wedding. Gogol himself is now an adult and he gets married. There was a quote that directly related to the wedding, "There is an hour-long watered-down Hindu ceremony on a platform covered with sheets. Gogol and Moushumi sit cross-legged, first opposite each other, then side by side. The guests sit facing them in folding metal chairs, the accordion wall between two windowless banquet rooms, with dropped ceilings, has been opened up to expand the space. A video camera and hand-held white lights hover above their faces. Shenai music plays on a boom box. Nothing has been rehearsed or explained to them beforehand. A cluster of mashis and meshos surround them, telling them continually what to do, when to speak or stand or throw flowers at a small brass urn. The priest is a friend of Moushumi's parents, an anesthesiologist who happens to be a Brahmin. Offerings are made to pictures of their grandparents and his father, rice poured into a pyre that they are forbidden by the management of the hotel to ignite." (222). I thought this quote was really important because it had many differences in it. First off obviously there is the huge cultural/traditional difference with the way the wedding took place. Also this showed the different class distinctions for example with the priest who is a Brahmin. Lastly this also touches on the point of arranged marriages. With this aspect there are many pros as well as cons as well.

Post B
For this week's post I thought I would comment on a quote that I found interesting and it also connects with post A! The quote is, "she is surprised to hear certain things about his life: that all his parents' friends are Bengali, that they had had an arranged marriage, that his mother cooks Indian food every day, that she wars saris and a bindi. Really? she says, not fully believing him. But you're so different. I would never have thought that. He doesn't feel insulted, but he is aware that a line has been drawn all the same. To him the terms of his parents' marriage are something at once unthinkable and unremarkable; nearly all their friends and relatives had been married in the same way. But their lives bear no resemblance to that of Gerald and Lydia: expensive pieces of jewelery presented on Lydia's birthday, flowers brought home for not reason at all, the two of them kissing openly, going for walks through the city, or to dinner, just as Gogol and Maxine do. Seeing the two of them curled up on the sofa in the evenings, Gerald's head resting on Lydia's shoulder, Gogol is reminded that in all his life he has never witnessed a single moment of physical affection between his parents" (138). I had to go back and find this quote because I had forgotten about it but in my mind at least it's really important. It shows the huge differences between countries and how that correlates to actual people. In the same sense something that seems normal to some people is totally foreign and awkward to others. Along with these differences bring conflict and trouble when different people come together. Even through this conflict though people are usually successful.