Part six: The coconut

So about a week before the wedding M called up Fi and asked him to drive the getaway car. In Hindu ceremonies, they couple exits together to start their life. Fi said sure. The day of, S's dad hands Fi the keys and shows him the car and then says "you must crack the coconut". S's dad is a very kind man, but also very stoic and a man a few words. So when he told Fi he had to crack the coconut, that was it -no explanation. Luckily, we had another relative explain to Fi that he had to drive OVER a coconut placed at the front of the tire.






Let me stress, this is no easy task. Anyone who took high school physics can understand the issue. The car is heavy, but so is the coconut. Built with natural defenses, the coconut is literally one tough nut. So I had visions that Fi would start to drive and the coconut would just fly out. And guess what? It did. Apparently what S's dad really meant, was that Fi should have cracked the coconut prior to starting. There are a few problems with this: 1. we never saw the coconut until it was under the car and 2. we didn't bring an ax. But fortunately, the second try proved auspicious and Fi cracked the nut. All those 4 wheel drive adventures came in handy!





First the couple was escorted out by all of S's family and a few of M's entourage. (All of M's friends were off at the hotel bar or up in there rooms as first there were family potraits. M's family = 6 people, S's= 80. So unfortunatly none of M's pals were really around to witness it.) The priest and S's parents said prayers around the tire. There was incense and coconuts.

The getaway car!The bride with her father and mother on either side.
Blessings of the tire?
You can spy the coconut under the front tire.
RESULTS!