Dagger drawn

Then she dropped the bombshell that she had opted to get married in Madrid, Spain, on the 5th of November. Barely two weeks away from D’ Day, I gamely agreed, knowingthat a lot of carefully laid plans had to be disrupted. But hey! for one’s close girlfriend Anything! So I hastily packed, booked hotels and flights and reached Madrid on the sunny afternoon of the wedding day.

When Anita joined us at the Hotel, I checked her over from head to toe, to say she looked radiant would be an understatement, she shone and glittered from inside and out in a long white beaded dres. Simple and elegant with a pearl choker, she looked like only a woman in love does on her wedding day Happy! Arnie and Anita have a son each from their previous marriages, so our group was just the five of us. We reached the grand Spanish hacienda of Ambassador Nyhein and his wife Brigita, we witnessed the brief ceremony which included the vow do you take each other to be your lawfully wedded husband/wife to honour and obey’ and I thought, Aha! For a registered marriage, Arnie’s got Anita to say yes to obey’ just teasing.

It was a lovely sweet ceremony and when Ambassador Jan Nyhein asked me towitness the marriage certificate, I did indeed feel honoured. We toasted the couple with a glass of champagne, took pictures of the lovely occasion and adjourned to the hotel for a quick refresh, so we could be back in time for dinner again at the Ambassador’s residence.

Of all the "free love countries" as they are occasionally referred to, I find the Norwegian and Danes to be particularly friendly. We count amongst our friends over the years, a good number of Danes and Norwegians and it is their spirit of loving not just each other, but life itself, that sets them a race apart. Yet, they are down to earth and extremely practical. There are never any absolute generalizations one can make about a race, but of this, I am certain.

Again if you generalize about a Malayali and say they are intelligent, stubborn yet extremely hospitable and warm, Anita would fit the bill exactly. Though I had just met Arnie that very day, I felt we knew each other. Anita being such a special close person to both of us broke thenormal boundaries of formality and restraint. When we got back to the Ambassador’s splendid residence, replete with pool and vast entertaining spaces all decorated to an exacting standard, I felt joy for my friend and it all wove a magical feeling of a unique one of the kind nuptual celebration.

The evening floated by on the wings of Cupid with a little help from Bacchus. It was only when I got back to my suite that realisation dawned that it had been over twenty four hours, since I’d slept on a bed. Wishing the newly weds a hasty goodnight, I flaked out. The following day, I left with Arnie and Anita’s dapper sons to discover the city. Zubin being the older of the two, knew the city quite well so he played navigator.

I shopped a bit, then met Anita for lunch, walked a bit more and presto! It was dinner time. Madrid is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. The splendour of the architecture and the warmth of its people make it one of the more exciting cities in Europe. Flamenco and Bull fightingare ritual must do’s but it is in the small cafes and restaurants, where the food and the wine is all Spanish, that the true flavour of Madrid reigns.

By including me in their private nuptual celebration, Arnie and Anita showed a travelholic like me the charms of a new city. I raise a toast to the newlyweds. May they be forever blessed.