Kessó vistid gaillá ghô tuvem? Saibini mhojea, hó kazra vistidu?

Pedro Otolini Joaquim Pinto de Carvalho, was ripe for marriage and had to be ‘settled down’ soon.

He had everything, an excellent job in the Obras Públicas. He was 36 years old, but as his family often pointed out, it takes time to build a stellar career such as his; he was not some clerk in the Obras Públicas.

Nobody was in doubt about his lineage, it was impeccable, he after all belonged to one of those old steeped in traditions Boas Famílias. Grapevine had it that the family was wealthy, exceedingly so.

Nothing is perfect and there was of course a ‘k’(something that was not right) as the maldosas (gossipers)put it, his looks did leave a hell lot to be desired…those large ears belonged to an elephant…the maldosas cackled delightedly.

 This is a delicious time for all the ladies in the family, they are consulted, they are feted, their opinions matter, this is a task to be taken rather seriously.

‘Ilda está filha dos Menezes?’(Ilda this daughter of the Menezes)

‘Qual delas? Elas são cinco’(Which one of them? They are five)

’Cinco?’(Five?)

‘Sim sei... Não tem muito... Mas a menina é bonita.’(I know...They don’t have much...But the girl is pretty)

’Ahm...bonita...’(Ahm...pretty)

 And they chortle maliciously, a good bank balance wouldn’t hurt anyone, one doesn’t come empty handed particularly if the boy’s family is really well to do.

What fun it is to be in this position, searching for brides, you have such a lovely time, there are endless lists made, every feature of the ‘Bride’ is flogged out; beginning with her lineage of course, her looks, her education, some dishonour in the family…

‘Remember the Girl’s Father always found drunk in the Bar Salcete?’

‘The Girl’s granduncle wasn’t so well…Diabetes…’ no, no, the voice drops down a decibel; it was Cancro (Cancer)?’

Nothing escapes the eagle eyes of the ladies in the Family…

There is a dollop of malice too…

‘Just you wait… I will now teach that D. Ilda a lesson… wasn’t she the b@#$%h who ruined my Silvia’s proposal, wasn’t she the one who told Fernandinho’s Mother…’Está menina tem um nariz que enche toda a sua cara?’(This girl has a nose that covers her entire face?)

All the ladies agreed that it was going to be a cakewalk…Pedro Otolini was perfect, but for his looks of course, anyway Girls in general had been warned.

‘Looks do not matter in the greater scheme of things’

Sadly, although Pedro Otolini, had everything, nothing seemed to gel…

Nothing was moving, all eligible girls were politely reluctant…

The Pinto de Menezes, the Cardosos, the Barbosas had politely but firmly, as befits families of impeccable lineage, refused, it was a resounding ‘No’

‘Um redondo não’.

Of course they had put it politely,

‘A minha filha é muito nova, apenas completou o seu Coleje, queremos que ela trabalhe …’ (My daughter is very young, she has just completed her College,  we would like her to work...)

Desperation was settling in the Pinto Carvalho mansion…

The married sister, Alba, would ask anyone who would visit her house…

‘Conhecem uma boa rapariga para o meu irmão? É engenheiro…’ (Do you know of any suitable girl for my brother? He is an Engineer...)

It was the situation of ‘kuslelli masddi’(rotting fish), why were the families so reluctant to marry their daughters to this man who had everything?

Everywhere there was a ‘não…’

And then Imelda, a neighbor of the married sister Alba, came with a proposal from her cousin living in an adjoining State.

The Bride was beautiful, tall, slender, well-educated and as a windfall had excellent Christian values.

So far, although every girl who had been sought was from a good Catholic family, nobody had even mentioned Christian values, but there you are, she was ultra-religious...’

The only ‘k’ if you would consider it a ‘k’ was that the family was financially quite strained.

Immediately, the Pinto Carvalho’s waived off the dowry…

’All we want is your daughter they asserted’ 

After a slight hesitation, the girl’s family hastily sent a telegram; they were under the false impression that the groom was besieged by offers from other girls…

‘Helena aceita…’ (Helen accepts) the family said.

This irritated the Pinto Carvalho’s

‘Hmmm, ‘Helena aceita, indeed’ they all said.

The marriage was set to take place during the holidays, when all relatives and their children were free to gather for this extremely festive occasion.

Alba’s husband Cosme had returned to Goa from East Africa. Like many others Cosme had not wanted to work in Independent Kenya.

Cosme, was looked down by the Pinto Carvalho family, he was not highly educated.

Then the Pinto Carvalho’s were of the opinion that his family was not a match for theirs.

He was not as well to do as the Pinto Carvalho’s and if this was not enough, he was a spendthrift, this did not bode well with the extremely frugal Pinto Carvalho’s.

In the Pinto Carvalho opinion, Cosme Albuquerque was riddled with flaws.

  

In a burst of extreme happiness and unrestrained generosity, Cosme Albuquerque had brought lavish gifts for every member of his and his wife’s family.

For Elsa the unmarried daughter of the Pinto Carvalho’s, as well as his wife Alba, sheath dresses that had beautiful fine pleats in deep pink for Elsa and an olive green for his wife Alba.

Cosme’s little daughters were to be the flower girls. They were overjoyed, they were sure their dresses as flower girls would be the talk of the town; they could show off…They were the Groom’s nieces after all, an envious position to be in…or so they thought.

Oh, the excitement, the arrangements, the family, the retainers, the servants worked extremely hard.

The little nieces Simone and Fatima, the little flower girls, were given tasks, they had to scrape the oil paint stains off the floor of the sala (hall) with a rag soaked in turpentine and a sharp razor blade, they worked determinedly and diligently, after all they were a part of the ‘Grand Wedding’.

The thought of the new dresses was always at the back of their minds, they would show off; there was no doubt about it.

They discussed their dresses all the time, would they be flouncy, would they have lace, what colours would they be? Pink, creamy, blue…Oh the happiness to own new clothes, they could wear them for Christmas …the possibilities were endless.

Every day there were masses of shopping, mostly food items for the novelty called bufê, where a great many dishes had to be laid out, the more the better…

The Father of Groom, Anibal had at one time been a lawyer for a couple of prominent Hindu families; this called for a separate meal to be laid out for these Hindu grandees.

A ram with horns had been tethered to a ‘Boramchem Zadd’ (A tree of Berries) in the compound to be slaughtered on the day of the wedding for a magnificent Xacuti. Special cooks had been brought from afar for an authentic Hindu Meal. No expense was of course spared.

Meanwhile, the tailor Santana, had arrived to sew the clothes for the Groom’s entourage. Simone and Fatima were aware that Tia Elsa and their Mother had been shopping for days; they were assured that their dresses would be the toast among all the cousins!

They had no reason to believe otherwise. They had been working so hard…

So when Santana said,

‘Dakteo derriyanchéou zok kárriya Bai?’(Shall we measure the little flower girls Bai)

Elsa the aunt said, ‘Rab Santan Mestre…tuka lugott dakoitam…(Just a minute Santana, I will show you the fabric)

The little nieces, Simone and Fatima waited in delightful anticipation… 

Elsa opened the baú (wooden box) where she had put away all the clothes she had worn as a Estudante (Student) and unearths a very ugly yellow dress of tulle.

‘É para as sobrinhas, este dará bem não acha Mãe?’(It is for the nieces, don’t you feel this one would be good enough, Mother?’) 

And of course the parsimonious Grandmother agrees with her.

‘Sim, sim Elsa, não lembras como usaste este lindo vestido para o Baile da Escola Medica?’( Yes, yes Elsa, don’t you remember how you wore this beautiful dress for the Medical Ball)

Simone and Fatima look at the very ugly dress in utter amazement... lindo vestido? ( Beautiful dress?) Are they blind? 

Elsa simpers and says, ‘E o Governador abriu o Baile comigo...’(And the Governor, opened the Ball with me...)

‘Estavas linda, tão linda Elsa...(You were beautiful...so beautiful Elsa)

And the Grandmother preens, remembering those days when suitors had beat a path to the Pinto Carvalho door...

It was a heart breaking moment, but the little girls grasped in a flash, that they would never be given anything ‘new’ in this house. Their small lives had always been filled with their Tia Elsa’s cast off dresses, cut to fit their small meager bodies, with arm holes that always remained large.

Simone and Fatima were completely flummoxed but did not say a word, oh yes, it had been a surprise. There was nothing to say...

Painstakingly, elderly cousins, Berta and Olinda were hassled into ripping apart the extremely ugly, very old tulle Ball gown of an indeterminate yellow color.

Santana was the only one to protest vehemently,

‘Baí shee, shee, daktea baiank hó cor sobchinam ’( Bai shee, shee, this colour will not suit the little girls) 

But Elsa smiled and assured Santana that it would do the trick.

Santana, was instructed to make a mini tent-like dress of buckram, the very itchy cheap fabric, Then the patient tailor who had never seen such a repulsive article of clothing, sewed zillions of frills fashioned out of the yellow tulle got from the taken-apart yellow ball gown, to the mini buckram tent-like structure. 

It resembled a tent with a great many yellow frills to it.

These were the much awaited flower-girl dresses. They were hideous; no tailor would ever sew such a dress again. For years afterwards the little girls called those dresses panjirim(Enclosures for chickens)

Even a simple dress with a bow would have done the trick.

The day of the wedding dawned full of promise, there was such excitement, such a buzz, cooks at their task of laying out a spectacular lunch.

Johnson and his Jolly Boys, the best band, tuning their instruments in preparation for the merriment to come.

All of a sudden relatives, the Mascarenhas, descend, without any preamble. They are to be served and given a room to change their clothes.

The Grandmother murmuring with disgust...

‘Porque é que estes primos não podiam vestir na sua própria casa? (Why couldn’t these relatives have dressed at their own house?’)

Be it a wedding, or even a funeral, there always is an after- the-occasion post mortem of the event among the relatives or for that matter everyone who has been invited for the Wedding.

It is to be understood that a Wedding is a rare event, a once in a while occasion with few guests and the dissection continues for quite some time…

What they said about the MC…

‘Aquele tio do noivo, pomposo, não sabe como animar uma festa...’ (The groom’s uncle, pompous as he is does not know how to get a wedding going)

‘Ele é velho, homem, somente porque é tio...’ (He is old, just because he is an uncle)

‘Desastre, parecia um funeral’(Disaster, it resembled a funeral)

‘Funeral! e aqueles drinks misturados com agua do poço?’(Funeral! And those drinks prepared with well water?)

‘O José você conhece esta familia de sovinas...’ (Oh Jose you know this family of misers...) 

‘O mercado de Mapuça é mais animado.’(The Mapsa market is more fun) 

Laughter fills the bar where the guests are drinking...

‘Eslinda porque é que  o Guido levou aquele Nevgi e o Machado para o sobrado?’

(Eslinda, why did Guido take Nevgi and Machado to that room upstairs?)

‘O Judith e pra dar-lhes ‘Foreign Whisky’ (Oh Judith it is to serve them Foreign Whisky)

 ‘Foreign Whisky’?

‘That was extremely crass, aren’t the other Guests important enough?’

‘And the Family is very rich, what with some connection they have to mines…’

‘Ha, ha but you know them, everybody knows how very tight-fisted they are…’

‘I think they took more pains with their Hindu guests, you know all those mine owners…’ 

It was Simone’s and Fatima’s first wedding ever, they were little girls of ten with cousins the same age, they had never seen a wedding nor heard a band before, so they planned.,

‘Let us enjoy to our hearts content’, forget the food, although the Caramel custard and the jellies look enticing, something to look forward to...

They would dance, dance till their little feet dropped off, panjirim be damned, and their mean witch of an aunt could go to hell...

They would dance and that is what they did, they danced, clung to each other, pushed people, squashed people’s toes, got scolded, couples glared at them , but did they care, not a whit, they just danced...

Just as the toast had been raised, an older cousin advised them wisely... 

‘Vocês viram que o brinde já terminou? Vão, tragam as taças de champanhe, suas estúpidas.’(Have you guys seen that the Toast has just ended? Go; get the champagne flutes, you stupids)

‘Sabem, não é? Os Portugueses já saíram de Goa?’(You guys are aware aren’t you that the Portuguese are now gone?)

‘Não se sabe nada desses indianos, se sabem algo do champanhe’(We know hardly anything about these Indians, if they know anything at all about champagne)

And this is what the band of little girls did...

They had glasses of champagne, allowed the fizzy bubbles to go up their noses, giggled and laughed some more and they danced...

Who says you cannot enjoy a Wedding even if you have a dress that is the ugliest of all?