Thaindian News

Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu), July 9 (IANS) After attending to the needs of his aged, ailing mother for most of his life, 63-year-old S. Hari Das finally married his 50-year-old niece in a traditional Hindu wedding Wednesday. “The love for my ailing mother banished all thoughts of ’settling down in life’ from my mind all these years. After my mother passed away two years ago at the age of 92, I realised I was lonely and needed attention,” Das told IANS.

“I know we will not be able to have children of our own, but we can attend to each other’s geriatric needs with love and diligence. If need be, we will look at options to adopt in future,” Das added.

For a change, instead of conferring blessings on the groom and bride, all married guests - younger than the couple comprising grand-nephews, grand-nieces, former colleagues and cousins - sought the blessings of the newlyweds.

“Generally, we attend 60th year marriage celebrations of people who are as old. This is the first occasion for not only a couple getting married at this age, it is also a new experience for us,” 60-year-old K. Nandagopalan, a former colleague of the retired bureaucrat groom, said.

“Das was so attached to his mother that he didn’t realise that he had become old too, till recently. I can only invoke the blessings of god to bestow a happy and long married life on this couple,” Nandagopalan added.