Ganguly`s marriage unoffically confirmed (23 Aug 1996)

23 August 1996

Saurav Ganguly`s marriage confirmed - unofficially, that is

Our Sports Correspondent

Even as Indian cricket`s latest star, the stylish left-hander Saurav Ganguly arrived in Colombo with the rest of the side for the Singer Cup competition, the national media is agog over the fact that the 24-year-old has married, in secret, Dona Roy, a 21-year-old third year mathematics honours student of Gokhale Memorial Girls` College in Calcutta.

Dona is, besides, a dancer of repute and disciple of Odissi maestro Kelucharan Mahapatra.

Speaking to his family on the phone from Madras before taking the flight to Colombo, Saurav denied that he was married, and promised to clear things up when he got back to Calcutta after the Singer Cup.

Dona also denied the story, telling her father that the matter could be discussed after Saurav returned.

"I sent an employee from my office to the marriage registrar`s office but he came back empty handed," said Sanjib Roy, owner of the well-known printing press Lalchand Roy and Sons. The Roys and Gangulys are next door neighbours in the Behala area of Calcutta, their palatial homes sharing a boundary wall.

So did Saurav have a thing for the pretty young thing next door? Her father says that the two have been good friends from childhood, and that she was very much part of the celebrations at the cricketer`s home after his triumphant England tour.

Reports meanwhile indicate that the two tied the knot on August 12, at the registry office near Wellington Square. The registrar`s office refused to confirm, though unofficially, an employee is believed to have admitted that the couple did get married at the venue.

Meanwhile, the two families - among the city`s oldest, incidentally, and most prosperous - have gone into seculsion. While the phones in the Ganguly residence are off the hook, Roy answers his calls but refrains from elaborate comment.

The Roys and Gangulys were earlier partners in the well known printing press N K Gossain and Sons. In 1958, the business split and caused intense rivalries between the two families - that was when the boundary wall came up, neighbours confirm.

The two families now run their own printing presses, and both are among the most successful in the city.

When the original dispute broke out, it was big enough to prompt social and political stalwarts ranging from Dr B C Roy, Atulya Ghosh and Pratap Chandra Chunder to intervene in a bid to secure peace.

Apparently, in the classic traditions of Hindi filmdom, the young lovers are working towards the same end now - albeit in a different way, by tying the knot.

Quips former Calcutta mayor Kamal Basu: "Perhaps the two young things will now heal the wounds and reunite the two families."

Hmmmm - star cricketer and star dancer. Estranged fami- lies. Secret wedding. If it was all written into a movie script, would you believe it?

Source :: Rediff On The NeT (https://www.rediff.co.in/)