Marriages are made in Heaven

It was a big relief when my son announced his decision and, when we wanted to know why he had not confided in us earlier, he just grinned and said ‘marriages are made in heaven’. We realized that he had grown up and we have to respect his decision.
Once the first part was over, we had to make a trip to Kolkata to meet the would-be daughter-in-law’s family members. Yes, she was from Kolkata and was from a small family. It was a match that was a sort of made-for-each-other affair. The date had to be finalized and the invitation cards had to be selected, printed and distributed.

The selection of the cards was another confusing affair. My wife and I went to College Street where there are rows and rows of outlets who specialize in invitation cards of all types. We could have selected it straight away but, for the sake of maintaining decorum, we brought back a couple of samples and returned back the next day to place the firm order.
There had to be two sets of cards – in Bengali for relatives and friends in Kolkata and in English for those back in Nashik. We also had to have two sets of reception – one in Kolkata, the other in Nashik. And, for the reception in Nashik, there would be a few selected invitees from both sides. Their railway reservations had to be made. The date settled upon was in July – monsoon season.
And, we had to do the marketing disregarding the rains and flooded streets. It was all very exciting and, when the event was finally completed and when we all boarded the Geetanjali Express to return to Nashik, we all heaved a sigh of relief.
Out five year plan had successfully ended. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Venturing into the world of matrimony

The world of matrimony is a very sensitive field and, only the experts can find their way out of the labyrinth. There are pitfalls galore and one has to be careful of selection of a suitable match for either the son or the daughter. In spite of the best of intentions, the alliance may not finally gel – and, then, those who had taken the initiative would have to bear the brunt of the attack and criticism.
Therefore, when the time came for me to find out a suitable match for my son, it was several months of searching the matrimonial ad columns in leading Bengali newspapers. For that, I used to get the paper by post on a monthly basis.

In those days, contacts would be maintained through handwritten letters and the regular task of my wife and me was to minutely go through the ads that appeared on Sundays. I had prepared and kept my son’s bio-data ready and, after a few lines of communication in the form of a brief letter, would attach a copy of the bio-data and post them. In most of the cases, a reply would come and that would be the first step towards forming a permanent relationship.
But, Man is a creature that is difficult to satisfy. The search for a suitable bride for my son was gradually turning out to be a process that was more complicated than I had ever imagined. I was afraid that my search for a stick would see me at the end of the forest without laying my hands on the exact type of stick I had in mind.
Therefore, apart from sending replies to ads of others, my wife and I decided to post an ad in the papers from our side and see what sort of response we get. (to be continued …)

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