A Sindhi Spaniard Wedding In Rajasthan
They came with family and friends and their favourite pandit maharaj from Spain to solemnize a wedding in Jaipur. There was style, panache and elephants! Farzana Contractor is part of the baraat. It is universally acknowledged that a wedding celebration in Udaipur or Jaipur or Jodhpur is considered to be the  ultimate. With a beautiful, resplendent palace as a backdrop, elephants trumpeting, live traditional music playing, with local bearers in colourful turbans serving you the most exotic food, guests which even include true blue royalty, shimmering silks, fairy lights… the atmosphere is magical.And so it was at the wedding celebration of Aarti, the daughter of Reshma and Moti Daryanani who I have seen grow from a child into a beautiful and bright banker. Educated in London's St Paul's School, Aarti who is Vice President at Credit Suisse in Zurich is about to chuck away her job and move to Tennerife in Spain, to  be with Suresh Bharwani, her husband whose family owns the Maya Group of companies, which among other endeavours, include high-end shopping malls. It was a fairy tale wedding in Jaipur's beautiful Rambagh Palace, one which the guests, family and friends will not forget easily. The sangeet was unique. Qawaals from the Nizamuddin Dargah had come specially from Delhi to fete the bridal couple and the qawaalis that were sung were robust  and mesmerizing. The venue for this was the elegant City Palace in the heart of Jaipur.There was also Elephant Polo to keep the guests entertained and kick-off was after the couple made a grand entry on a huge elephant all dressed in finery and painted from trunk to toe. Elephant polo is more fun for the watchers though. Not easy to sit astride one and try and hit the ball with a cue that weighs at least 10 kgs!  For the D Day, Maharani Gayatri Devi took the trouble to come from her private residence, Lily Pool situated in the same palace grounds and wish the couple, as did the Maharaj Jai Singhji, an old friend of Moti's from his bachelor days. It was in fact the Maharaja's idea that the wedding should take place at Rambagh.Since Moti is the former general secretary of the AICC and is known in the political; circle as the ‘kingmaker’, it was only natural that his buddies, Mumtaz Masih and Virendra Poonia from the Rajasthan Congress Committee would be around, along with other local big-wigs like Shiv Shankar Gupta, the man who owns emerald mines in Africa.  A nice, secular touch was to see Amin Nizami, the religious caretaker of the holy Nizamuddin Dargah, sitting on the stage the entire duration of the hawan. His blessings meant a lot to the family. The marriage rites were traditional hindu, performed by a priest from Tirupati and another one come all the way from Spain.The 300 odd guests returned home to their respective countries with wonderful memories of India and Indian hospitality. |
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