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Sunday, October 16, 2011

I Can't Stop Staring at my Hands

That probably sounds strange but it's true.  When I'm writing, typing, washing them or dishes, I keep catching myself looking at my hands.  Here's why:


Mehndi is a henna tattoo.   It's a traditional kind of art. Many times brides and their female family members and friends have applied to their hands and feet a few days before their wedding.  The tradition among the artists is passed down through families.  I

On Wednesday evening, also my dad's birthday, a small group of girls got together for a mehndi party.  Tiffany and Maribel shared amazing food and organized for the artists who'd visited their Kindergarten class during the day to treat us to have our own turn.

Delicious samosas and sweets and chutney.

Tiffany, our hostess taking advantage of her one dry hand.  
You  have to wait for it to dry so the henna becomes darker.
It can take an hour or so to dry.
Maribel, aka Miss India
The start of my mehndi
One palm done.  Two sisters shared the work on my hands.
One did the palms and larger flowers while the other did the details and shading.
Palms are done!  

They used small plastic bags to squeeze out the henna.

Many of us had two people painting our hands at the same time.
Heeru's attempt at me showing off my mehndi.
She gave me a bridal photo shoot.  I need to work on my dancin' finger positions.

Heeru told me a few things about mehndi when I came to school on Thursday.   She told me that the stronger the color is of your henna, the more your husband loves you.  Or for us single girls, the more passionate you are.   I've heard that the henna can last from one to three weeks.  We'll see on my pale skin what happens.

Okay, the end of this post has come.  One final glance down at the flowers on my fingers and peacock feathers on my palms before I need to start my day.

2 comments:

  1. That is beautiful! I love all of your pictures and posts this week.

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  2. Thanks Laura! You'd be in love for sure. Maybe we can have a BT mehndi party. It'd take a bit of work to find someone but we definitely could do it. Perhaps the spa we visited this summer will be offering that...

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