by SIDDHESHWAR WAHI
The Rajput ‘Tikka’ ceremony in Amarkot on Dec 7 will take place in Pakistan for the first time since 1947 PHOTO/The News
An eyewitness account of the fairytale wedding alliance between two Rajput families of India and Pakistan.
More than two decades ago, my princeling cousin brother was astride his steed to fetch his bride. I, heady with a mix of elation and a few afternoon tots of rum, was dancing out front along with village locals, as raucous as Shiva’s hordes. Just when the villagers dived down to collect the small change showered from above, I was unceremoniously yanked away into the family fold, where I received a stiff upper lip reprimand in a voice terse with pedigree: “Baraat ke aadmi naachtey nahin!”” (Family folk do not dance in public.) For a half-blood ne’er-do-well like me, that was that.
Cut to the recent marriage of Padmini Singh of Kanota Thikana in Rajasthan and Karni Singh of Amarkot in Sindh, Pakistan – a brilliant experience which will be equally unforgettable. It began in Jaipur airport, where the ubiquitous ‘Sid’ of the city was anointed ‘Hukum’ (the term being reserved to address Rajput gentlemen of consequence) by the chauffeur. I wasted no time in giving a twirl to my abundant facial fur.
But first, the night before the wedding. Spoilt by the legendary hospitality of the bride’s father Thakur Man Singh (a schoolmate from Mayo College, Ajmer) and many of the old boys for company, the evening was devoted to the fine art of abject indulgence, revelry and gluttony. The joke was ‘let’s see who makes it to the R.I.P. roll of honour for next old boys’ reunion’. Well, for a Thikana (house) one of whose forebears was commander-in-chief of the erstwhile Jaipur State forces, some cavalier banter was quite in order.
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