A Mussulman Marriage.

Southland Times, Issue 9164, 12 March 1886, Page 4

A Mussulman Marriage.

♦ The Inbalpnra correspondent of the Calcutta Englishman sends the following amusJog account of a Mussulman marriage there : — 'Thekhitmutgar's son, aged 9, was going to esponie the khansama's daughter, who was fully 6, and yon may be quite certain that the thadi wai one of the very finest kind ; Ahmed Khan must have borrowed fully 800 rupees, and Blahi Buksh as much more. There were tkree really almost respectable 'fitton' gharris (whereof the drivers were exceedingly drunk) any number of torches, .and two bands — the Mune binds, that play ' Home, sweet home,' and tJohn Brown 5 * body,' both with variations, at the Mussulman funeral. Only at wedding! they play a little quicker, and ever 80 much louder. All the relatives on both, •ides and the relatives' relatives and their relatives again had been invited.; Thirty. ■even found room in the three ' fit+ons, 1 about 25in the *wotikka gharris that came behind, and all the others 100 or 120 walked and shouted. Abmed Khan and Elabi Buksh sat on the box-seats and »ranVtLeßh6w. They' didn't send mean invitation, but I went all the same, to provethatlboie them no malice, and to make them famons forever in print. The bride was sleepy and cried, and I think the bridegroom had eaten too/many sweetmeats. He slept a good deal, and during his waking intervals wanted to take off his turban withits forest of jasmine flower*;; but bis father-in-law jammed it down again with the flat of his hand, and then the bridegroom mingled his tears with the bride's.- They were the single exceptions who didn't enjoy themselves— if I omit the horses. Seventeen old and remarkably plain women walked in front of the processionand sang. They didn't begin to sing till they were well out of my compound, and till the two bands had fallen in and .tuned up. They chattered in undertones, and exchanged witticisms with the population in the five gharris ; and their witticisms were not worth repeating. At a given signal they lifted their voices and sang, and their songs were a little bit worse than their witticisms. When they could siDg no more, we had , John Brown's body,' and after that some of • Home, sweet home,' with the tremolo stop on. Then we had moresongi and more of the ' Body,' and more of ' Home, sweet home,' and filled in the gaps by telliDg the bride and bridegroom not to cry. But they didn't attend to us, and the bridegroom would pull the eff his turban when Ahmed Shan wasn't looking.