We met the lawyer at his home office in Lokhandwala. Which was worthy of its own documentary. Old legal books. Stacks of papers and signs in Hindi for "advocate" littered the room. Seemed like a typical Kanpur lawyers office, taken right out of Jolly LLB.
It was a tiny room to begin with and that had been split further by a small wooden partition, which separated the home and office spaces. But only in spirit. Both rooms are covered in the same family mementos, odd showpieces, out of date calendars, children's toys and odd feng shui water fountains of every size and variety from the desktop variety to a waist high imitation waterfall.
Regardless of the size and make, all of them were dry, dusty, and devoid of water but still out on display.
The lawyer himself was a sweet elderly man, who loved to talk and often jumped off topic into stories of HIS own daughters wedding, which he recounted much much emotion and fondness. Before we left he gave us business cards of every member of his family, covering all professions from lawyer to dietician.
Next step was filing papers at the marriage registry office. The marriage registry building is a uniquely dilapidated structure, only days away from possible UNESCO heritage status. It seems like it might fall down any day now and we're praying it stays up till after our paperwork goes through.
The facilities are bare, not colour coordinated and the seats are stiff metal benches like you might expect in prison. But it makes for very interesting people watching and we spent quite some time trying to decipher the multiple notices in Marathi that plastered the walls.
The actual registration area is a sight to behold. They have their own mini stage with royal chairs for the bride and groom and a staff photographer is kept on standby. There are costumes to rent and when we came in there was a bride and groom in government rental gown and tux, going through the process. I'm hoping we don't end up going that way.
After paying our fees and signing our papers, and greasing palms of the right officers, looks like we are set to get married in a few months. Right now it's the 30 day notice period where people can raise objections so if you have a bone to pick, Act now!
Otherwise see you at the party 