NEW DELHI, CHANDIGARH, February 20: Dhanik Lal Mandal, 66, former Governor of Haryana, smiles. He's seen reports in some newspapers about his wedding on Valentine's Day. ``The reporters want to add some spice to their stories. It was two days before the Lovers' Day, he says.''At a quiet ceremony at the Tis Hazari Court in the capital, Mandal married 36-year-old Supreme Court advocate Kusum Choudhury. Her marriage, Kusum says, was ``compelled by circumstances.'' Mandal says the marriage was natural since they shared a past dating back 20 years.
Finally, it was loneliness that brought them together, says Kusum. Last year, her parents passed away. ``I was left all alone in this world. I have a younger brother, but he's married and is busy with his family. I confined myself within the four walls of a room and would weep from morning till night.'' Until the family began telling her it was time to get married.
Even Mandal, whom she called `Uncle,' began looking for a suitable boy.Kusum had her doubts. ``Atmy age, it's difficult to find a bachelor or a suitable match. I didn't want to get married to a stranger. There are all kinds of people in the world; who knows who will murder you for your property?'' And then it happened. Mandal, whose wife died 15 years ago, was also lonely. ``He couldn't bear to see my condition. He would tell the family members, `Yeh phool si ladki hamari aakhon ke saamne jiteji mar rahi hai. Hum yeh kaise dekh sakhte hain?'. And even he needed someone in his life.''
But it wasn't sympathy, insists Mandal. It was also because they shared a lot. For example, during the turbulent days of the Jai Prakash Narain ``movement'' in the '70s, she used to stay in my house. She was involved along with me, in Charan Singh's Kisan Movement.'' And it was during his tenure as the Governor of Haryana from 1990-95, says Mandal, that Kusum became his confidante. He was alone, his three children settled in Bihar, she came down for the holidays. There was also the professional bond: Kusum was Haryana'scounsel in the Supreme Court when Mandal was the Governor.
``Our interests are common,'' says Mandal. ``I am into social work now, with my Lohia Karpuri Institute of Technology for Social Change of which she is the secretary. Moreover, the loneliness and old age need for a companion finally made us decide on marriage. And it is not auspicious for a woman to die unmarried.''
Mandal adds that Kusum has no plans to retire. ``How can she come here leaving her practice, that too in the Supreme Court? She will be here during holidays and vacations.'' Kusum says she still can't believe Mandal's her husband. ``I went to see him off when he was leaving for Haryana after the wedding. I bent over to pick up a packet he was leaving behind, and called him `Uncleji'. That is what I have been used to all these years,'' she says laughing.
The registered marriage was conducted in a hurry, but a formal ceremony will be held in the near future. And a honeymoon to follow? She laughs again and says: ``It all depends on him.I will do whatever he wants."
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
