Deepu Weds Kavita

Deepu with his mother, Nidra

I am not sure if one can call oneself fortunate or fastly aging if one gets to see the birth of a child and then be present at the wedding of that child as well.
A young girl came to our house in Bombay in the final years of my school days and continued to stay with us till she was nineteen or so. Then she returned to her village, in Nadia district about an hour’s journey from Sealdah in Kolkata. Her name is Nidra. During the years she lived with us in Bombay, she virtually became like my younger sister.

A couple of years after she returned to her village, we heard she had got married. Shortly we heard she had given birth to a son as well. But alas! No sooner had her husband heard that she was pregnant, he fled, leaving her to fend for herself and the baby. The baby was called Dipankar Mondol.

Not an uncommon thing here in the villages of Bengal but for us it was heart breaking. Naturally, we brought the mother and son back to our home in Bombay. For many years they lived with us, both in Bombay and Pune until, when he was around 15 years, both mother and son returned to their native village, to visit us during his holidays from school.

On February 10, 2009, Dipankar married Kavita, a girl living nearby in his village.

Kavita, in her bridal form

Sindur ceremony

Saat phera

“Mashi,” he had called me, “ ami beye korchi”. – Mashi, I am getting married.Naturally, I joined the elite borjatrik(people from the boy’s family) and introduced myself to the girl and her family as – “ Ami Deepur Mashi” – I am Deepu’s maternal aunt.

The wedding started at around 9pm and went on till after 2am the following day. The next morning, after a sleepless night, we arrived back to the boy’s house, since as a rule, marriages happen at the girl’s. I left for Kolkata after plates full of mishti and a sumptuous meal of maach bhaat complete with mishti paan.

Bringing the bride home......

.....even as the tuition classes go on.....

.......and others look on!

Pssst! …….and already the Tu Tu; Main main have begun as Nidra, whispered in my ear – “Dhoor! Ekdom bhalo lage na. Meyer data uchu….” – I don’t like it at all. The girl has buck teeth!

Oh Gawd! Not again!!