Dhulikhel , April 30 :

It was a pretty kettle of fish, but a plucky little girl out of the blue saved the day from ending up as a disaster for two families.

A Bhujel girl and a Brahmin boy had been courting for the last five years, sworn to wed each other. Their families had reluctantly consented only two weeks ago to the marriage. But, when the day for tying the nuptial knot came, the bride-to-be bolted. In a twist to the drama, it was left to her underage younger sister to fill in for the escapee or absentee, whatever.

Thus it was that poor little 15-year-old Chandrawati Bhujel from Methinkot VDC-4, who never knew she was fated to be the bride when she came to attend her elder sister’s proposed wedding ceremony at the Dhulikhel-based Geeta temple today, ended up becoming the saving grace.

And, when the Maoists tried to kick up a shindy about her age and tried to stop the marriage, the plucky girl held her ground and showed them the door. Mere moments before the 19-year-old bridegroom Ram Kumar Dahal — also of the same village — arrived at 10 am with a party of 25 persons in tow, Chandrawati’s elder sister Parvati, 18, did the disappearing act.

On the pretext of buying things, Parvati left for the market with two friends right after her father wended marketwards to buy a shawl for the wedding ceremony.

Initially, Chandrawati held out for two hours and refused to tie the nuptial knot with Ram Kumar, her elder sister’s lover. But her parents and relatives insisted and she gave in.

Chandrawati said she agreed to become Ram Kumar’s bride to salvage her family’s reputation. “But, I put to them the condition that I should be allowed to continue my studies,” she added. Her father Chakra Bahadur lamented, “My elder daughter said the groom’s choice was a garland of yellow flowers. Inexplicably, she has disappeared.”

When news of the wedding spread, a group led by the Maoists’ Dhulikhel secretary Bisheshwor Banjara came to intervene but failed. “Why should other people be concerned about my wedding?” said Chandrawati.