hadji, I am wishing your lovely sister all success in the future.

How lovely they all look in their beautiful saris.

Which college is that, hadjiboy?

Congrats to her! Such a beauty. What are her plans?

How cool. I love the camaraderie in their pic.

That's the St. Francis College for Women

She's finished her Bachelors of Science in Biotechnology and is planning to move to the States to be with her sister and pursue further studies. But, because of the difference in the education system here (we have a total of fifteen years of education that we finish, compared to the 16 years that you have [and is required to gain acceptance at any university there]), so she'll have to do the same thing that her elder sister did and finish another year of some Diploma course and then apply for any programme. Don't know what that is yet.

Congrats to your sister, hadjiboy! I love those photos - she and her friends look so happy and beautiful.

I always get so excited when I meet women who plan to go into science or technology fields! There is still such a huge gender gap in any field (save perhaps for pure biology). My fiance looked at a bunch of biomed, biotech, and bioengineering programs here in the US, so I can answer some questions about focus, reputation, etc., if she has any.

I wish I lived in a place where saris were common.

Congrats to your sister (and the others in the photo)!

Gosh, what a beautiful group of young women. . .

I wish I lived in a place where saris were common.

I went to the wedding of an Indian friend a few years ago. There were all kinds of pre-wedding parties and rituals, and I went to one at her home for the women where the bride's face was covered with a paste of gram (chickpea) flour and water, and someone painted mendhi on everyone's hands.

I wore a sari for the party. I don't own one, but the bride's mother asked me when I arrived if I would like to try one on and I said yes, so I was asked to choose from a rainbow of saris and then it was fitted on me.

I was going to wear it for the wedding but I didn't have the confidence, because it felt as if, with one false move, the whole thing would unravel and leave me standing there in my underwear. In reality I'm sure that wouldn't have happened, but it worried me all the same.

I used to live in an area with a large Indian population and I loved seeing the women in their saris. Such a feminine garment, yet modest and elegant too.

I've been waiting to be old enough and confident enough to wear a sari, as a whitey white whitegirl, without it seeming gauche and too appropriative. I have a cheongsam, but duh that's a lot more normalized. The funny thing is, I think it would mostly seem gauche and culturally questionable to snooty whitey whitey white people. All the Indian folks I know are like "Yeah, get a pink one!"

hadjiboy, I'm kind of curious: Your sister's friends all have western names. Do they have Hindi names also?

Oh! And my hearty congratulations to your sister! She's got a friend in the Bay Area is she winds up here! :D

Congrats, sis of hadjiboy! The world is yours!

I have several saris, the first of which I got in India as a child (it didn't fit for many years), but I felt a lot more comfortable wearing them just around in Australia, where there are few Indian people, than I do here in London, where there are many. It feels more appropriative here, or something. Now I wear them only for special occasions.

Salwar kameez, however, are great pyjamas and excellent for hot days. It's a more normalised shape, and less conspicuously unusual for a white girl.

yeah i want a fancy afghani shalwar with a lot of embroidery on it! I will be looking in one of the many shops for such a thing in the new neighbourhood.

Do they have Hindi names also?

Heee, wouldn't that be cool, to have Western AND Eastern names:)

My sister's is kind of an uncommon muslim name, but I'm not sure if it sounds like it's western. Veronica is a christian by birth, so she's got a christian name, and Maria is a muslim whose name sounds like a non-muslim ones I agree. But it's a very common name here.

The other girls in the set are all hindus (although I'm not sure of their names), but my sis also has this other great friend named Chandani who she's been with since (god, I don't know when; fourth or fifth class), and when they (Veronica, Chandani and Safa get together--it's like all three religions combined).

PS. Thanks for the offer you guys; I'll surely tell my sister to ask either one of you for any advice if she has any:)

Jan, I think that must've been the Haldi ceremony:)

Fun, nah!

Thanks for sharing, hadjiboy. My idle cultural curiosity is, for the moment, sated! ;)