Namaste!

I've always appreciated your culture lil D. I think its incredible that you are from this little landlocked country that is one of the poorest and underdeveloped in the world... and you and your family have come so far :)
Some people (maybe even yourself) probably think arranged marriages are crazy..(take a look at the story i found online) but I think it is a huge part of your culture and you should be proud of it..mo matter how "un-american" it may be.
so if you meet some great nepali guy that you should probably marry (no matter how unlikely that is) then go for it!
you are the product of an arranged marriage no? and look how fabulous you and your family turned out :)

P.S. I can't wait to see you in your red sari adorned with gold jewels. do they have bridesmaids in nepali weddings?

The online journal entry.
"A sad wedding"

During a trip to Nepal, friends and I found ourselves at a traditional Nepali wedding held in a crumbling stone courtyard in the old section of Katmandu. The sister of a friend of my boyfriend's cousin was getting married, and as is the custom there, we strangers were ushered to the front row of the ceremony.

Seated on ornate cushions, just feet in front of us were the groom and his young bride wrapped in a red silk sari bedizened with gold pieces. She wept as they shared ceremonial bites of food, he sitting just inches from her, his stare fixed somewhere above our heads.

It was an arranged marriage, the brother of the bride told us, and she was in love with someone else. When the ceremony finished, and the couple prepared to leave, we watched as new family members struggled to carry the bride from the courtyard. She clung to her brother, mother, the sides of the building, wailing, until they finally got her into the colorfully papered bridal car wiating for them in the street.

I plan to have more say in the matter when the time comes for me to marry, though I have concluded that the ceremony is really for the benefit of the people who've shaped the couple.

Big parties aren't everyone's preference, but here's how I see it. We have two chances in life to get everyone we've loved together in one room — our wedding and our funeral.

Since I don't anticipate being around for the latter, I plan to go full bore on my wedding. Nothing would be more memorable than for one night to have the people from the far-flung coners of my life convene in their Viking helmets, tuxedos, and red saris for a little dancing and champagne on the bank of some pretty river.