readinghorizons.com

Podcast-2 The Wedding & Reception

Podcast-2

Now I am going to talk about the wedding itself followed by the reception.

For a Muslim Wedding, the bride and groom are seated separately, and a kazi (person authorized by the government to perform the wedding), accompanied by the parents and a witness from each side formally asks the bride for her consent to the union, and then the groom for his.

At this time, for Muslim weddings, the amount of the dowry or mahr  is verified. Then the formal papers are  signed, and the couple is seated side by side on a dais. The bride’s veil is draped over both the bride and groom, and a mirror is placed in front of them. The groom is often then supposed to say something romantic when he sees in the mirror-notionally the first time he has laid eyes on his bride. A traditional answer is to say that he has seen the moon. The bride and the groom  feed  sweets. While the bride’s family members  play pranks by pushing the groom’s face into the food. All the guests then celebrate the union with a feast. Sometimes, the bride’s friends and cousins conceal the shoes or, for admission, barricade the entrance to the venue, demanding money from the groom (Bengali Wedding). Usually, the groom pays off the children of the bride’s side. Siblings, cousins, and friends also play many practical jokes on the groom.

The reception, also known as the bou bhat, is a party given by the groom’s family in return for the wedding ceremony. It is generally a much more relaxed affair, with only the second-best wedding outfit being worn. Unlike the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom act as a couple at the reception; the bride and groom arrive together, receive, and see off guests together, and dine together. After the party, the bride goes to her family house for two nights. On the second day, the bride’s family is  invited to the groom’s house for two nights. Then the bride’s family   is invited to the groom’s  house for a meal, and they leave with the bride and groom. This meal is called firani.

This is the end of podcast two.

I am sure you have enjoyed such a colorful and traditional ceremony in Bangladesh. If not then come and explore wedding parties in Bangladesh. You will never be bored!

That is all. Have a good day.

Podcast 1-The Engagement & Gaye holud

Podcast-1

Hi, I am Sadia  Sharmin and today I am going to talk about Weddings in Bangladesh. There are four parts in Weddings. These four parts are engagement, gaye- holud, the wedding itself and the walima.

During engagement the bride and the groom  exchange rings. It is also known as Paka-kotha. There now begins a time of great preparation for the wedding. These may take place a few weeks or up to within two years of the agreement. During this time, the two families will organize the clothes and food, issue invitations, arrange venues, decide on music, photographers, and video makers, buy presents for the close family members, and arrange accommodation and travel for out-of-town guests.

The turmeric ceremony or gaye  holud takes place before the wedding ceremony. There is one turmeric ceremony for the bride and one for the groom. For the bride’s gaye holud, the groom’s family goes in a procession to the bride’s home. They carry with them the bride’s wedding outfit, wedding decoration including turmeric paste and henna, sweetmeats and gifts. They also take two large fish decorated as a groom and bride. There are local variations on this tradition, such as the number of fish, the party responsible for cooking the fish and time the fish is taken to the groom’s family.

The procession traditionally centers on the relatives and friends of bride, and they are all in matching clothes, mostly orange or yellow in color. Her friends or siblings accompany the bride to the dais. Then the bride is seated on the dais. The henna is used to decorate the bride’s hands and feet with elaborate abstract designs. The turmeric paste is applied on her face and body. This is said to soften the skin, but also colors her with the distinctive yellow hue that gives its name to this ceremony. Meanwhile, the young girls and boys from both sides arrange some recreational programs. The families have series of musical debates in which they sing, dance and praise of their own families and tease the others with shortcomings. Mostly, the bride wears a yellow sari with a red border and has her head covered. Her important participation is in the bracelet-tying ceremony. The mother or the grandmother of the groom ties a red and silver cotton bracelet (raki) to her right wrist. All guests then feed the bride sweets. There is, of course, a feast for the guests. The groom’s gaye- holud comes next, and has the same form as the bridal ceremony.

This is the end of part one.

                                 
                                                My Aim of Using Podcast-1




My podcast aims at teaching listening, speaking, and writing skills. I have created two podcasts on Weddings in Bangladesh and I have used one of them. Thirty students (age 11) of class five  of an urban area are from an English medium backdrop in Bangladesh. The class time is thirty to thirty-five minutes. The Students are thirty in number. I enter into the classroom with a wedding card and show it to them. The students give a surprise look. Some of them ask, “Is it a wedding card?” Then I ask them if they have ever been to a wedding party and some other questions related to the theme Weddings in Bangladesh for first five minutes. Then I can make groups of five in each group within two minutes. Carefully, they listen to my first podcast once on Wedding for three minutes. It is a listening skill. I provide six square sized blank papers for each group. Then I ask them to design and color and write about a wedding day by using their own experience and imagination. After fifteen minutes, six group members show and read out from the wedding cards; whereas I focus on their pronunciation and vocabularies at the same time for ten minutes and tell them to bring some wedding cards the next day. They are going to put it on their own classroom dashboards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMixI8t1yVw&noredirect=1

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Writing_Better_University_Essays/Referencing

National Conference