the white jamai

in other words, the white son-in-law... we have one in the family... my niece has married an American who happens to be a writer...
so after the American wedding (in a church), the couple went down to India to get married the Bong style... it was more a challenge for him, rather than the parents who organised the whole thing... i was not there at the function, but have seen all the videos and what struck me was the willingness with which he went about all the riutals -- he did wear the topor (which is a hat made of some white decorative material), the dhoti (now you get ready-made dhotis, which you just wear like a trouser), the kurta and the kohlapuri chappals to go with it...
when i asked my sis-in-law (the bride's mom), how they got him to do all that he did, she said, "he had asked the meanings of all the mantras in English, so i got the mantras translated and had sent it by mail. then one day, he wanted to chat just on the rituals, which i later understood, was his way of getting a comfort that there was no conversion involved in the whole affair."
it might seem silly to us, but for this foreigner, coming with his Indian wife and going through an Indian wedding may not have been that easy...
but he came out in flying colours...