Marriage Harvest

Consulting the planets, Astrologer Mahant Raghvir Dass, high priest of Delhi's Hanuman (Monkey God) temple, made a direful prediction: "The 13 months after May 5, 1955, will be inauspicious for marriages." The news had Delhi state in a marital dither last week. Unmarried thousands hurried to get hitched before the full moon in the sign of Vrischika.

Newspapers were full of matchmaking advertisements, e.g., "Husband wanted for beautiful graduate girl, 23, with fine arts and classical music qualifications. Domesticated." Wedding music blared from hundreds of houses, and Delhi's 40,000 beggars reaped a rich harvest of coins traditionally tossed to them by merrymaking bridal parties. Delhi Glass Manufacturer Bawa Bachittar, marrying off two daughters in a joint ceremony, put up huge arches sheathed in flashing mirrors, and strung 30,000 colored lights along half a mile of roadway leading to his house. The Delhi state assembly was forced to adjourn because members had to attend so many wedding ceremonies.

The fever spread to neighboring Rajasthan state, where anxious parents began marrying off every tot in sight. In Jodhpur district there were 10,000 marriages in which the brides and bridegrooms were between three and twelve years of age, while in Nagor district, mothers carried babies in arms seven times around the sacred fire to solemnize marital vows.

As if he had not spread turmoil enough, Astrologer Dass threw out another prediction: "The period after May 5 will be bad for the world in general."

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