Translated short stories: Will the bridal party find a car in time to go to the bridegroom’s house?

The bride let go of her father and went and hugged her mother. “Ma! Where are you sending me!” she sobbed, as she slumped on her mother. The gold-worked sador she wore fell off her shoulder. The vermilion phot of xendur on her forehead and the line drawn with sandalwood merged. The bride’s mother, too, was quite distraught. The people who had come to see off the bride wept piteously.

Suddenly, over the sobs and the wails came a shout, “Hold on to the mirror carefully! It was about to fall just now!”

The people surrounding the bride looked to see where it came from. The bride’s elder brother was Bhargob Choudhury, an important official posted in the oil town of Duliajan. He was supervising the loading on to the truck of the furniture that would accompany the bride to her new home. The bride’s Bordeuta, her father’s elder brother, Headmaster Rammohan Choudhury was giving directions to her second eldest brother, Dr Ranjan Choudhury in a soft voice. The bride’s elder Khura, Murulimohan Choudhury, her father’s younger brother, who was an officer in the Agriculture Department, was, with her younger Khura, Krishnamohan Choudhury, the land revenue officer, organising the vehicles in which the...

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