The joy of a Hindu wedding in Fiji

I was so overwhelmed by the response to my last Hindu wedding vlog that I decided to do another. Don't worry, they'll be many more to come because each wedding is different in its own way and each is a vibrant celebration of one of the most familiar rites of passage. Interestingly, I feel like I'm showing on KZbin what people are keen to find out: how do people from different cultures celebrate a custom like marriage? This is a universal question. In many respects, it's also a more nuanced question: People of Indian heritage from one part of the Indian Diaspora will want to know how others like them celebrate it in the more far-flung corners of the world. How familiar is it with what they know and appreciate, how different?
It may just be a gathering to celebrate the union of a couple but, in its small way, marriage is a celebration of life itself in which we are all bound up, the world over, in our common humanity. My last Hindu wedding vlog attracted a huge response, especially from members of the Indian Diaspora in Surinam, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, and, of course, Fiji. It also attracted a lot of attention from those members of the Indian Diaspora whose ancestors were taken from India to work as indentured labourers somewhere but whose descendants have migrated to countries like Canada, Australia, the United States, and other parts of the world. As I said, I really hadn't anticipated the degree of interest my last Hindu marriage vlog would generate. I hope this one offers more insight into Hindu marriage customs in Fiji. You'll see the usual elements here as in most marriages and a little bit more: hospitality, singing, dancing, a glorious mix of colours, religious incantations, creativity, spontaneity and food, glorious food!
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet
Please note: At some parts of the vlog I've had to replace the Bollywood music used on the occasion (for which I don't have rights to) with similar music from a music platform I subscribe to.

[@vijaynarayan1936]

Just finished watching this hour long video. Your plate was a little short of Mt. Everest but well decorated. It made me hungry, I could have eaten my phone. Well done.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Thank you, Vijay! I have to be honest. I preferred the food on the Haldi Night. It was cooked on an outside stove over a wooden fire.

[@vijaynarayan1936]

@@ThePaleBlueDot where was this wedding, location?

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

@@vijaynarayan1936 In a hall above a supermarket called ‘Superfoods’ in Malolo, Nadi.

[@rachaelkumari8642]

Good morning beautiful wedding miss Fiji Islands thanks 4you making this video.yes food is always very tasty. Love from new Zealand.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

My pleasure! Don't forget to subscribe! :)

[@ramfulsoochit3011]

Really exactly same marriage ceremony in Mauritius.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

I hope you enjoyed the vlog! 😃😃

[@ezycashcenterallimited885]

Ramram brother

[@babitanarayan2497]

Lovely video Azeem, very posh indian wedding for Fiji and your video had very well captured importance of wedding customs, values and reasons.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

So nice of you, Babita. Thank you! 😃

[@rajchandra71]

The food...now thats my favorite part!

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

I can still taste it in my mouth! 😃

[@dipeshrai3334]

Love from India 🇮🇳🕉️🕉️🕉️💕😍❤️❤️

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

I hope you enjoyed the vlog. 😃✌🏽👍🏽

[@ramasawmykishore4546]

This wedding is very beautiful is the same tradition in mauritius

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

So glad you liked it. 😃✌🏽👍🏽👌🏽🙏🏽

[@beaumontmuni4294]

Awesome! Love my former home paradise and the Indian side of my culture ... but ironically Fiji Indians need to learn to sing like our brothers and sisters in India. This always baffles me why they cannot carry a damn note for long ... the problem is that Findians need to get proper classical training in singing from experts in India. We need to develop this side of the culture. 👍👍

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Very interesting, Beaumont. Singing lessons not being their strong point are probably needed by many but there is a strange beauty in the way the lady sings. 😃👌🏽✌🏽👍🏽🙏🏽

[@tolykozin]

Singing is not just the notes but the feeling one puts into them. The Fiji and other hindus in some of the other islands are more hindu in their leanings and have greater pride in their heritage and culture than a lot of people in India, god bless them all, Jai Sri Krishna, may he protect them always

[@farzaslasher422]

Nice video brother, so interesting seeing desi culture outside of South Asia. Did the groom come from abroad he sounds British

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Thank you! The groom is a local chap. Very nice family. 😃😃

[@donnared6897]

Lovely video,thanks.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Glad you enjoyed it, Donna Red! 😃👍🏽✌🏽👌🏽

[@bissoon4435]

Similar to our Guyanese hindu wedding, love it

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Thank you, bissoon. Even the lady who was the lokgeet singer? Do you have that in Guyana too?

[@bissoon4435]

No we don't have lookgeet singers. Some persons do hire singers for the wedding reception.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

@@bissoon4435 fascinating. I’ll have to go to Guyana one day to see a wedding for myself.

[@FlawlesslyFee]

The songs are the same however, I mean I know all the words lol

[@ramfulsoochit3011]

Superb wedding colurful Indian Fiji ceremony.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Thank you! I know the bridegroom and his family. 😎

[@anitadc1960]

@@ThePaleBlueDot is the bridegroom from Fiji 🇫🇯

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

@@anitadc1960 Yes, both are. Lovely couple.

[@anitadc1960]

Beautiful wedding lots of blessings to bride and bridegroom xoxo 😘 love 💕 from Australia 🇦🇺

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Thank you, Anita! 🙂

[@Priya-rf7ov]

Beautiful 💖

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@divyanshsharma4943]

I am India 🇮🇳🇮🇳😱😱😱hidi❤❤good👌🏾❤😱😱

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Glad you liked. 😃👍🏽✌🏽👌🏽

[@divyanshsharma4943]

New video Hindi language your👍🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

@@divyanshsharma4943 Thank you! 😃🙏🏽👍🏽🙌🏽

[@transcendentalvibrations7962]

Its a Punjabi/Hindu wedding seems like

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Yes, you're right. 😃👍🏽✌🏽👌🏽

[@SaviKshi]

can anyone please tell me the wedding venue shown in video??

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Sylvia Park, Lashika Hall (above Superfoods, Malolo, Nadi).

[@vovo1204]

Customs and traditions changes according to situation and circumstances....groom is sikh but not looks like sikh... although he had sikh tattoos in his hands ...

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

Interesting. Why do you say he does not look Sikh?

[@miss_attitude4618]

Ihi by hu by

[@preetikanandran705]

Nice wedding but I hate Fiji indian ladies logh geet or wedding songs. I hate their voices a copy from bollywood n says Indian movies n bollywood songs are not good.

[@ThePaleBlueDot]

I had to change the Bollywood songs in the editing as I didn’t have the rights to them for the vlog.

[@beaumontmuni4294]

truly spoken