MEMOIRS OF A MAVERICK by Mani Shankar Aiyar

Sarwar

My best man at the wedding, and principal witness, was my long-standing and lifelong friend from St.Stephen’s and Cambridge, the gentle and generous Sawar Lateef. Just as we were setting out for the wedding in my imported Fiat-124 car that had been lovingly decorated with jasmine flowers, I found to my mortification that the car would not start. A panic call to Sarwar and his delightful wife, Shahida, followed. Like the US Marines, they rushed to our rescue at the last moment, and we reached the wedding venue in their modest and respectable, but undecorated vehicle. There, we met up with Suneet ‘s witness, Governor B K Nehru and his gracious lady of Hungarian origin, Shobha ‘Fory’ Nehru. Also present was the North Delhi IAS Additional District Magistrate who had been transferred to South Delhi specially for my wedding, Vinita Singh (Rai) in a gorgeous saree. We then got down to the formalities. I almost wrecked the solemnity of the event by giggling when I came to the line that “to the best of my knowledge and belief” I was not married to anyone else!