Episode 01 - Chapter 16 - Presentation of the Bridal Couple.
Chapter 16–Presentation of the bridal couple-கோலங்காண் படலம்–212 to
Let us now revert to Kamban:
“ சனகனை இனிது நோக்கி.
‘மா இயல் நோக்கினாளைக்
கொணர்க!’ என. வசிட்டன் சொன்னான்”
Sage Vasishta, addressing Janaka with a pleasing mien, said: “Have (Sita), the one with doe’s eyes brought in here”.
Sita’s maids beautify Sita (they are engaged in a futile and mindless enterprise, as the poet would narrate) for her appearance in Janaka’s Court as the bride.
Kamban invests a dozen verses of intoxicating beauty, describing the protocol of the maids beautifying Sita, as a bride. We would skip through these due to constraint of time and space but the narrator wouldn’t pass up some of the scintillating metaphors used in these verses:
அமிழ் இமைத் துணைகள். கண்ணுக்கு அணி என அமைக்குமாபோல்.
உமிழ் சுடர்க் கலன்கள். நங்கை உருவினை மறைப்பது ஓரார்.
அமிழ்தினைச் சுவை செய்தென்ன. அழகினுக்கு அழகு செய்தார்-
இமிழ் திரைப் பரவை ஞாலம் ஏழைமை உடைத்து மாதோ!
The two eyelids, meant to protect the eyes, also amplify the loveliness of the eyes and therefore the face: that is the unmatched creative skill of the Creator. The maids, endowed poorly with creative skill or imagination, were trying to adorn Sita with glittering jewels and ornaments not realizing that these very ornaments, meant to accentuate Sita’s unmatched natural beauty, instead succeeded only in concealing it. The maids were ignorant of what they were accomplishing. They were futilely trying to lend beauty to what is indeed beauty itself. “அழகினுக்கு அழகு செய்தார்”. It was like someone trying to sweeten the sweetest of it all, “Amirtha”, the divine nectar. How ignorant and impoverished of imagination, this world could get?
வெஞ் சிலை இறுத்த வீரன் தள்ளத் தன் ஆவி சோர. தனிப் பெரும் பெண்மைதன்னை அள்ளிக்கொண்டு அகன்ற காளை அல்லன்கொல்? ஆம்கொல்? என்பாள்’உள்ளத்தின் ஊசலாடும் குழை நிழல் உமிழ இட்டார்.
As the maids were fitting Sita with dangling, dazzling earrings, their pendulous movements reflected Sita’s mind swinging between: “The valourous lad who stole my mind and my very feminine persona, would he be the same (as now coming up as the groom) or wouldn’t he be?”
மான் அணி நோக்கினார்தம் மங்கலக் கழுத்துக்கு எல்லாம் தான் அணி ஆன போது. தனக்கு அணி யாது மாதோ?
Sita, the incarnation of Sree (Maha Lakshmi) lends auspiciousness to the mangal sutra adorning the necks of all (doe-eyed) women, what could adorn Her neck or lend auspiciousness to her (neck) adornments?
தளை அவிழ் கோதை ஓதிச் சானகி தளிர்க்கை என்னும் முளரிகள். இராமன் செங் கை முறைமையின தீண்ட நோற்ற; அளியன; கங்குல் போதும் குவியல ஆகும்’ என்று. ஆங்கு. இள வெயில் சுற்றியன்ன எரி மணிக் கடகம் இட்டார்.
The slender and soft hands of Sita, that would soon be held, with due rituals, by the red-tinted hands of Sri Rama, as these were like fresh lotus blossoms, shall not close their petals as the sun sets thus cause distress to Rama: (Lotus closes up as the sun sets up); therefore in order to keep those lotus blossoms always in a state of full bloom, Sita’s hands were adorned with very bright, shining like the sun, “katakam” (bangle-like) ornaments. (முளரிகள் = lotus blooms)
நஞ்சினோடு அமுதம் கூட்டி நயனங்கள் ஆன என்ன.
செஞ்செவே நீண்டு. மீண்டு. சேயரி சிதறி. தீய
வஞ்சமும் களவும் இன்றி. மழை என மதர்த்த கண்கள்.
அஞ்சன நிறமோ? அண்ணல் வண்ணமோ? அறிதல் தேற்றாம்.
Sita’s eyes looked as if the divine nectar Amirtham got mixed up with poison – the whites of the eyes poured out universal love; the black, glowing, piercing pupils were like poison – darting Rama with a potion that caused him unbearable lovesickness, and for everyone else, with anything but devout submission, instantly killing poison. The eyes were of perfect, beautiful symmetry. The redlines across the whites were dominant adding both lustre and beauty. The eyes, totally bereft of either revulsion or guile, rich and lustrous like cool rain, what hue have they gained? Is it just black? Is that the complexion of Rama, as He seems to be occupying those eyes completely? Impossible to speculate. Note the expression: “செஞ்செவே” the equivalent of the colloquial one: “செக்கச் செவேல்”.
All Women Fall in Love With Sita, Her riveting, Radiant,all-engulfing beauty
கஞ்சத்துக் களிக்கும் இன் தேன் கவர்ந்து உணும் வண்டு போல.
அம் சொற்கள் கிள்ளைக்கு எல்லாம் அருளினாள் அழகை மாந்தி.
தம் சொற்கள் குழறி. தம்தம் தகை தடுமாறி நின்றார்-
மஞ்சர்க்கும். மாதரார்க்கும். மனம் என்பது ஒன்றே அன்றோ?*
Like bumble bees get intoxicated with the honey they suck from lotus flowers, the maids engaged in “beautifying” Sita, the lovely one that lends the captivating speech to parrots, drunk deep the intoxicating beauty of Sita and were faltering in their speech (due to that inebriation). The mind, that drinks beauty and gets intoxicated by it, is unisexual, the same for men and women, isn’t it?
The poet delves into a rare convergence in the mental attributes of men and women: both fall for real natural beauty – not just attractiveness that the two genders offer to each other. Surpanaka would rave, trying to describe Sita and her beauty to Ravana, after her humiliation at the hands of Lakshmana: (later in the epic): “கண்பிற பொருளில் செல்லா; கருத்தெனின் அஃதே; கண்ட பெண் பிறந்தேனுக்கு என்றால் என்படும் பிறருக்கு?”
Surpanaka is not just jealous, she is totally drowned in her shameless love for Sita’s form. If her mission was just to get Ravana set his heart on possessing Sita, she could have just stayed with describing her beauty to him with all the baiting embellishments. But she admits to him that even as a woman, she was so transfixed on seeing Sita’s glowing beauty (completely shorn of any ornaments or beauty aids, with just in her bark attire) she was unable to shift her eyes or mind to anything else. She wonders: if this is what happened to her, a woman, what could be the fate of others i.e. men. Later, Kamban applies this predicament to those who see Rama: “ஆடவர் பெண்மையை அவாவும் தோளினாய்! “ (Rama’s powerfully attractive shoulders made men looking at him wistfully wish they were women i.e. in order that desiring Rama would not be improper.)
Here is Kamban’s enjoyable double entendre (சிலேடை) in bracketing Rama with Sita in terms of equated attributes:
சங்கம் கை உடைமையாலும். தாமரைக் கோயிலாலும்.
எங்கு எங்கும் பரந்து வெவ்வேறு உள்ளத்தின் எழுதிற்றென்ன.
அங்கு அங்கே தோன்றலாலும். அருந்ததி அனைய கற்பின்
நங்கையும் நம்பி ஒத்தாள்; நாம் இனிப் புகல்வது என்னோ?
As they both wore a Conch in their hands (Rama i.e. Sri Mahavishnu holding the Panchajanyam in His left hand and Sita wearing bangles made of conch); as they both reside in lotus blooms (the Paramatma resides in the lotus that is jeeva’s heart and the piratti is seated on a lotus); as they are both manifest everywhere and in everything; and as both are imbedded in every (devout) mind; and, as both appear in “Archa” form in countless places and appear in “Viyooha” and “Vibhava” – incarnation time and again, the piratti with blemishless feminine attributes like those of Arundhathi is seen as the equivalent of Sri Rama.
This could reverberate the paragraph alluding the narrator’s imagery to this Kamban’s line: “தணியும் தானும் அத் தையலும் ஆயினான்”
Sita, bridally adorned, walks to the Wedding Hall
“இந்துவின் கொழுந்து விண்மீன் இனத்தொடும் வருவது என்ன” when she walked with all those maids around her, it looked like the captivating moon was moving with all the stars around it.
வல்லியை உயிர்த்த நிலமங்கை. ‘இவள் பாதம்
மெல்லிய உறைக்கும்’ என அஞ்சி. வெளி எங்கும்.
பல்லவ மலர்த் தொகை பரப்பினள் என. தன்
நல் அணி மணிச் சுடர் தவழ்ந்திட. நடந்தாள்.
Sita was delivered to Janaka as a gift of Mother Earth. As the mother was apprehensive that her child’s tender feet would hurt while walking, she seemed to have covered Sita’s path with carpets of tender flowers – it so looked, as Sita’s anklets, embedded with glittering, glowing, gems, scattered her path with tantalizing, coloured, light.
வில் தவழ, வாள் நிமிர, மெய் அணிகள் மின்னச், சிற்றிடை நுடங்க, ஒளிர் சீறடி பெயர்த்தாள்.
As a princess, walking as a bride, Sita receives the full regalia of Royal retinue - bowmen and guards holding stiff their swords - and that adds to the glow and pomp of her path. She walks gingerly, one slow step after another, with her slender waist strained, in the midst of the glow and glitter scattered all around by her ornaments and jewellery.
We are almost in the wedding hall.
The wedding bells are ringing sweet and loud. What happens in the wedding hall? A lot of gripping things do – apart from the rituals. Next week.
Sita Arrives At the Wedding Hall
We are in the wedding precincts. The bride, Sita, arrives there. The hall is filled with Dasaratha’s entourage, the sages, Janaka’s and his brother’s families, the four grooms and the courtiers.
The two royalties exchange greetings; of these two, Janaka seems to be the more ebullient. (The current societal norm is for the bride’s parents to be the meek and more nervous ones?) Valmiki has him wonder, why is Dasaratha, dawdling, so slovenly?
सद्यो अहम् त्वत् प्रतीक्षो अस्मि वेद्याम् अस्याम् प्रतिषितः | अविघ्नम् कुरुताम् राजा किम् अर्थम् हि विलम्ब्यते
sadyo aham tvat pratiikSho asmi vedyaam asyaam pratiShitaH |
avighnam kurutaam raajaa kim artham hi vilambyate ||
“kim artham hi vilambyate” Janaka wonders aloud.
பொன்னின் ஒளி, பூவின் வெறி, சாந்து பொதி சீதம்,
மின்னின் நிழல் அன்னவள் தன் மேனி ஒளி மான,
அன்னமும் அரம்பையரும் ஆர் அமிழ்தும் நாண,
மன் அவை இருந்த மணி மண்டபம் அடைந்தாள்.
.The glitter (of all her gold ornaments), the intoxicating fragrance of the flowers she adorns and the cool, great-smelling sandal paste that is dabbed all over her, these follow her: the eye-scorching brilliance of her natural beauty, like that of a lightning, led that captivating backdrop: and putting to shame, the swan, the incomparable courtiers of Devendra’s Court – Ramba, Urvasi, Thilotthma, Menaka – and even the divine nectar that rose from the churning of the Milky Ocean, in the beauty of her walk, deportment, loveliness and rAadiance, Sita arrived at the Wedding Hall. “பூவின் வெறி” The intense intoxicating effect of the masses of fragrant flowers on and around Sita is indexed with the extreme expression “வெறி”.
அன்னவளை, அல்லள் என, ஆம் என அயிர்ப்பான்,
கன்னி அமிழ்தத்தை எதிர் கண்ட கடல் வண்ணன்
உன் உயிர் நிலைப்பது ஒர் அருத்தியொடு, உழைத்து ஆண்டு,
இன் அமிழ்து எழக் களிகொள் இந்திரனை ஒத்தான்.
Rama exults on seeing Sita:
When confronted with this divine nectar-like Sita in front of him – in the present backdrop (as different from the fleeting (and possibly partial) view he had when they met in front of Sita’s terrace – Rama was confounded momentarily: is this the same or is this someone different? But his confusion was just momentary. He now was absolutely sure that he was meeting the same scorcher of his mind, possibly in more elaborate finery and in fuller view, but there was no iota of doubt that he has found her again here. His heart and mind skipped and jumped – like Devendra’s when he found the emergence of Amirtha at the crest of the hard and long churning of the Milky Ocean, the nectar that would give him and his co-gods, deathless perpetuity.
(Rama momentarily stumbles with the same doubt as Sita does – “Is this the same person?” or “Isn’t this?”)
நறத்து உறை முதிர்ச்சி உறு நல் அமுது பில்குற்று.
அறத்தின் விளைவு ஒத்து. முகடு உந்தி. அருகு உய்க்கும்.
நிறத் துவர் இதழ்க் குயில் நினைப்பினிடை அல்லால்.
புறத்தும் உளதோ?” என மனத்தொடு புகன்றான்.
Kamban brings out a poetic alchemy: Rama wonders: The great and matchless embodiment of femininity, made up of Amirtham itself, further sweetened (?) by the best cultured honey and made up of the highest of auspiciousness that only great dhaarmic deeds fetch, which descended from the terrace in the street of Mithila that day and took over my heart, how is it that that very red-lipped lovely cuckoo, still lording it over in my heart, how is she making appearance here in front of me as well? – Rama asks himself. (Can the same body be at three places? Is the import). When a mind is riveted to an object, it tends to see it everywhere.
Dasaratha wonders, on seeing Sita:
என்றும் உலகு எழும் அரசு, எய்தி உளன் ஏனும், இன்று திரு எய்தியது எனக்கு ‘ என நினைத்தான். Dasaratha exclaims: I have accomplished everything that being the unchallenged emperor of this wide earth accords to me; but the crowning grandeur and auspiciousness has arrived for me just now.
The assemblage pays obeisance to Sita, instinctively, involuntarily:
கைகள் தலை புக்கன, கருத்து உளதும் எல்லாம்
தெய்வம் எனல் உற்ற, உடல் சிந்தை வசம் அன்றோ?
As Sita walked across the wedding hall, towards where Janaka was seated, barring those who Sita would pay obeisance to,(the parents of the grooms and of Sita herself, the elders, the sages), all the others spontaneously raised their hands over their heads, paying obeisance to her. The “spontaneity” is the key word. Sita exuded divinity. She was, without doubt, Sri Mahalakshmi - piratti - for the assemblage (other than the excepted). The poet wonders: when the mind perceives divinity, the body follows suit in spontaneous, devout, obeisance: for, the body is subservient to the mind, is it not?. உடல் சிந்தை வசம் அன்றோ?
Some commentators would include the gods present in the hall in the excepted category. But your narrator would like to exclude them. They too, spontaneously, would pay obeisance to this piratti, wouldn’t they? Sri Aadi Sankara would adore: Hari hara brahmaadhibhi Sevitam. The trimoorthys pay obeisance to Her.
தாதை அருகு இட்ட தவிசில் தனி இருத்தாள்,
போதினை வெறுத்து அரசர் பொன் மனை புகுந்தாள்.
Why did piratti descend to this earth? Did she get tired and vexed of being seated on her lotus seat in Sri Vaikunta? Why? Kamban avers that she did get tired and vexed of being in Sri Vaikunta because she found no job and no job-satisfaction there: no one sought her refuge and sought deliverance from their miseries or want; there was neither in that abode. She descended where she would find it more interesting, where she would be more sought after, where she would do what she does best: grant auspiciousness and welfare to those who need them, grant them refuge, grant them a form for the devout to adore and worship. “போதினை வெறுத்து அரசர் பொன் மனை புகுந்தாள்”
Kamban using a trenchant term like வெறுத்து (disliking, hating) in reference to Sri Vaikunta with all its pregnant and most skillfully implanted meanings, is another hallmark of his command and his greatness.
As Sita arrives and sits in the seat by his side, Janaka receives her with tearlets in his eyes. He realizes that the time is fast approaching for him to part with his darling daughter and that moves him, a sage-like monarch, intensely. “கண்கள் பனி சோரும் தாதை”
Seated by her father in that awe-inspiring assembly mostly of strangers and powerful royalty, almost intimidating for the very young girl, her first impulse is to look for her beloved; locate and make sure that it is Him and no one else. As observed earlier in this presentation, she deploys a skill that is amazingly original and feminine: side-glances, half-glances, fractional-glances, fleeting glances that capture a lot – both gross and detail, that men would find nearly impossible to accomplish.
ஐயனை அகத்து வடிவே அல புறத்தும்
கைவளை திருத்துபு கடைக்கணின் உணர்ந்தாள்.
She needs to reconcile the form of Rama imbedded in her heart with the one that was seated in physical regalia in the assembly; how does she do it? Both culture and girls’ natural bashfulness dictated that she would avert a full-blown stare. She had to make do with a glance that would be wholly unobtrusive; almost unnoticed by the assembly. She accomplishes that in this remarkable manner: she looks down for a fleeting moment at her hands, invests another moment as if to correct the symmetry of the large number of bangles on her wrists; and in that camera-shutter second, casts a fractional glance over the assembly; fixes her sight on her beloved for a split-second; and lo! and behold! this one checks with the one presiding in my heart! Her heart overwhelms, but unseen by anyone else.
(The assembly disperses for the day. Even the Sun disperses : மின்னு சுடர் ஆதவனும்
மேருவில் மறைந்தான். (Even the blistering, bright Sun disperses himself behind the Meru hills.)
The nightfall causes an agonizing anticipation for the bride and the bridegroom. It is like someone waiting for a long-awaited priceless prize, the grasp of which is interrupted by an unwelcome nightfall. Sleep is lost. The night is hated. The dawn is wished – right now. Kamban presents that agony in both Sita and Rama in his inimitable scintillating form:
Sita assails nightfall:
“உரவு ஏதும் இலார் உயிர் ஈதும்” எனா.
கரவே புரிவார் உளரோ? கதிரோன்
வரவே. எனை ஆள் உடையான் வருமே!-
இரவே! - கொடியாய். விடியாய்’ எனுமால்.
“Oh! Nightfall! Cruel Thee! Why not go away and let in the dawn? When the Sun rises, my Lord would arrive as well. Could there be such heartless, treacherous persons like you, not having the compassion to grant frail, feeble feminine souls their lives; why would you do such wicked deeds?” Implied in this command of Sita to Nightfall is her threat: should you be stupid enough to defy this, woe unto you, my Lord shall wallop you properly. (Separated lovers have always agonized over nightfall when the pangs of separation are sharp and punishing; poets have always found choice epithets to assail nightfall as from the separated lovers. Kamban could only exalt himself in this art of poesy. He does.)
(உரவு = strength, physical endurance.)
Sita upbraids her own, impatient, mind:
கரு நாயிறு போல்பவர் காலொடு போய்
வரு நாள். அயலே வருவாய்;- மன்னே!-
பெரு நாள். உடனே. பிரியாது உழல்வாய்;
ஒரு நாள் தரியாது ஒழிவார் உளரோ?
“Oh, mind! You were born with me and had been inseparably loitering along with me all these years; cometh this man! Rama, the one resembling a dark-complexioned Sun; and you desert me and flee from me, pussuing His footsteps and would only return to me, like a stranger, when he comes to me! Could there be anyone like you who couldn’t bear the separation (from your beloved) for just a day?”
Kamban excels himself: Sita thinks that her mind is the infidel, deserting her for Rama and following Him; of course it would return to her, possibly estranged a bit, when Rama comes to her?. As if Sita had the composure to wait out the day but it was her mind that couldn’t bear the wait and would desert her in her predicament and follow Rama tracing his footsteps She of course reminds her mind that it has to come back to her, for its usual abode. The poet also alludes to the deep and captivating imprint Rama’s lotus feet had made on her mind, as she devoured his form through a side-glance, (stealthily, as she was in the presence of the whole Assembly in Janaka’s Court, sitting by her father), through a contrived act of looking down on her bangles-loaded hands and correcting the bangles. “கைவளை திருத்துபு கடைக்கணின் உணர்ந்த”. Her mind was so captivated by the inviting beauty of those feet, that it eloped after them, as it were.
“கரு நாயிறு” – Dark Sun? “Dark” and “Sun” are contrAadiction in terms? How could they co-exist at all? For Kamban, they do. Because, his hero, Rama, is peerless, without a comparison. Is Rama not dark-complexioned, like a rain-cloud? But, does he not also rAadiate a brilliance that puts the Sun in the shade? One of the amazing, mind-boggling turn of phrases from this great poet.
Sita calls the (normally) cool, soothing, balmy, breeze a carnivorous predator: தென்றற் புலியே! இரை தேடுதியோ?” Oh! The predatory, fierce, carnivore – the southerly breeze, are you looking for an easy prey in me?
Sita laments the endless pain of this night:
பண்ணோ ஒழியா; பகலோ புகுதாது;
எண்ணோ தவிரா; இரவோ விடியாது;
உள் நோவு ஒழியா; உயிரோ அகலா;
கண்ணோ துயிலா; இதுவோ கடனே
The tumult around in the city – loud singing and revelry - would not die; the day refuses to break; the thought chain locked into Rama would not cease to churn; the night refuses to budge; the pain within shall not go away; and even my life would not leave me, leaving me in peace; the eyes defy sleep; is this the fate (of women like me)?
Now, let us see what Rama’s condition is:
முன் கண்டு. முடிப்ப அரு வேட்கையினால்.
என் கண் துணைகொண்டு. இதயத்து எழுதி.
பின் கண்டும். ஒர் பெண் கரை கண்டிலெனால்;-
மின் கண்டவர் எங்கு அறிவார் வினையே?
When I saw her fleetingly on the terrace, and instantly falling in deep love with her, I painted her portrait in my heart with the help of my two eyes; then I saw her again today in her full regalia and beauty. But I miserably failed in recalling that whole loveliness or beauty in my mind. Those who witness a lightning, how could they replicate that picture with their physical and mental aids alone?
In this following verse Kamban beautifully replicates the scene when Sita assails her mind as deserting her and fleeing to follow Rama’s lotus feet, weighing it in with equal enigmatic beauty, in Rama’s lament:
‘நினைவாய் ஒரு கால்; நெடிதோ நெறிதான்?
வினவாதவர்பால். விடை கொண்டிலையோ?-
புன மான் அனையாரொடு போயின ஏன்
மனனே! - எனை நீயும் மறந்தனையோ?
“Oh! My Mind! The one that fled from me seeking the doe-eyed Sita; have you totally forgotten me, your permanent sanctuary? Why aren’t you not taking leave of the one who doesn’t care for you and who hasn’t enquired after you at all i.e Sita? Have you travelled away from me so far away that you find it difficult to retrace and reach me again?”
The distance allegory is very interesting: The whole world is still standing between the two beloveds – till the wedding ritual brings them together. But the mind travels as it pleases. Rama thinks in physical terms that Sita is still very far from him; that the mind has fled to her; and the return journey is punishingly long and grieves for the quick return of his own mind. He also complains that Sita doesn’t care for him. (வினவாதவர்பால்.)
“கரு நாயிறு போல்பவர் காலொடு போய்” (Sita).
‘நினைவாய் ஒரு கால்; நெடிதோ நெறிதான்” (Rama)
In these two verses the poet reenacts his stunning, dramatic statement when the two met in front of Sita’s terrace: வரி சிலை அண்ணலும் வாள் கண் நங்கையும் இருவரும் மாறிப் புக்கு இதயம் எய்தினார். The swapped hearts are again making a dart-like journey to their respective seats of love – Sita’s in Rama and Rama’s in Sita.
The Wedding Proclamation reaches the city through drum-beats
வானவர் பெருமானும் மனம் நினைவினன் ஆகத்,
‘தேன் நகு குழலாள் தன் திருமண வினை நாளை;
பூ நகு மணி வாசம் புனை நகர் அணிவீர் ‘என்று,
ஆனையின் மிசை ஆணை அணி முரசு அறைவித்தான்
Janaka, remembering to inform his citizens of the forthcoming celebrations: Ordained the proclamation: “Darling Sita’s wedding is tomorrow: citizens of Mithila! Decorate yourselves; decorate the city; come thither to witness this celestial wedding on earth” to be announced across the city and Videha through beats of drums perched on elephants.
The Great Wedding Day Dawns, bringing the curtains down on the privations and pain of the expectant bridal pairs and delivering hope and joy, with expectant excitement and enthusiasm:
அஞ்சன ஒளியானும், அலர் மிசை உறை வாளும்,
எஞ்சல் இல் மணம் நாளைப் புணர்குவர் எனலோடும்,
செஞ் சுடர் இருள் கீறித் தினகரன் ஒரு தேர் மேல்
மஞ்சனை அணி கோலம் காணிய என வந்தான்.
The Sun rises, riding his chariot, his red early rays tearing asunder the enveloping darkness, with the same excitement and expectancy, as all the other earthly players: “the dark-complexioned Lord and the Lotus-seated piratti would be wed this day in ceremonies that would not miss a beat in terms of either ritualistic fervour or celebratory pomp; I shall not miss this for all my worth.”