my cousin Shamma, aunt Zuleika Apa, and sister Naseema hard at work early in the morning making preparations for food
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my mum in the kitchen cooking up a storm
uncle Ismail Mamoo tending to the kheer outside - my absolute favourite!
later, after the khattam (where i didnt take pix!), my sister gets mehndi (henna) applied to her hands by my cousin's wife, Salma
... while my cousin Shabeer hangs around for hours watching the process
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the Mohammed Ali pose, after both hands have been done and bagged
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4 hours later (yes, i was awake), in the wee hours of the morning, hands and feet are complete
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friday morning - more preparations - my aunt Amina helps Zaki to make up some gift parcels
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my uncle and dad chilling out waiting for the action to begin
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one of the tables before the masses arrived to eat and do stuff
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the "stage" is set
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and the young "maidens" who served as the welcoming party for the "boys party"
and they arrive and are welcomed at the gate by my dad
while the maidens sprinkle confetti on them ... in case anyone thought a fancy hairdo was in order
Zakira is led into the arena ... very tentatively
in her hurdee finery - before the procedures begin
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and the procedures begin - with Sajid's sister Najma being first in line - this looks like the pep talk
and now some strange flowery thingies are attached to her hands
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and a piece of burfee in the mouth ... to ease what comes next
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slap! hurdee on the face ... well, more like rub :)
on and the feet too!
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and on the sister standing at the back nogal!
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while the whole of the boys party sits back watching and waiting their turn
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a closeup of the thali with the various skin moisturising herbs and spices on it
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the girls party looking not particularly excited
would you believe - Sajid's family brought their own dancing girl!
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finally, my mum gets to do some smearing of her own
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and to end it all, my cousin Gori turns the water for good luck or to remove bad luck or something like that
after the tamasha, Shabeer, being my sister's proxy for the next day's Nikah, pops the question - does she really want to marry Sajid or what?
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and its over ... the boys party leaves with their gifts ... and sleep until the next morning for us
