The whole party then left for the school building, the women crying. There the priest chanted more invocations in front of another fire, and Nandu made a sindoor – a vertical, vermilion streak, symbolising the state of marriage – from the top of Rekha’s forehead into her parting. Hindu women, in rural Rajasthan at least, apply this mark every morning of their married life. (If they are widowed, the sindoor is no longer applied, and other marks of married womanhood, such as jewelled toe-rings, permanently removed.) After this final stage of the ceremony, the bride and groom were untied, and the bride’s party (including Helena and I) made our way back to the house alone. We waited outside while Usha, trying to control her tears, fetched a jug of salty water, which she poured in the corners of the doorway to ward off evil. The family went inside, and Helen and I walked back to our room. It was 4am and I felt numb.
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