Indian Couple On Japanese TV

Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. …

John Heywood

On November 19th, 1970, Renu landed at Haneda International Airport, Tokyo.　　It was raining very heavily. One of Renu’s precious gifts is that all the important events of our life are celebrated on rainy days. Her nickname is ‘Ame Onna’ (A woman of the rain). We met after 15 months. It was a very long period, indeed. Everybody said that my face was the happiest that evening. Of course it had to be. She was beautifully clad in red saree - a very sweet bride! I was the luckiest person.  

During lunchtime at Toei Musen I used to watch a very popular television program known as ‘Aoshima Yukio no Wide Show’ … the great show of Yukio Aoshima. It was hosted by three top stars of that era: Yukio Aoshima, Chinatsu Nakayama and Eita Yashiro. These three later turned into national politicians and Mr. Aoshima later was elected Mayor of Tokyo. The highlight of this show was performing marriage ceremonies with couples that had interesting episodes to share. I asked Renu to watch.

Although she did not understand much of the Japanese content she apparently liked its uniqueness. With her encouragement I contacted Nippon TV, the station that broadcasted Aoshima’s show. I was told to speak to its director, Hideo Kurita. He listened to our story but was not impressed. Our story, he said, lacked the ‘punch’ that Japanese audiences wanted. However, he was kind enough to tell us to see him again after two days.  At our next meeting there were four more persons, a panel of 5 including Mr. Eita Yashiro - one of the three hosts. Mr. Yashiro asked us a direct question in English; “What qualifies you to be on this show?” We had done our homework this time. We told them:

You must have seen many foreign girls marrying with Japanese men in traditional Japanese style. You must also have seen many Japanese girls marrying with foreign men in traditional Japanese style. However, we don’t believe that you’ve ever seen an Indian girl marrying with an Indian man in traditional Japanese style.

That was the clincher. Mr. Yashiro proclaimed ‘You are a very thoughtful and lovely couple. It’d be our honor to have you on our show’. January 14th, 1971 was the last edition of this marriage special, therefore, we were told to be ready. However, there was a schedule conflict as we already had marriage planned for January 15th at Hirakata-shi.   It was a ‘pickle’. They kept on discussing for more than an hour. They had a problem dismissing us as Mr. Yashiro had already said ‘okay’. However, to add one more edition was even more difficult as the programs were planned three months in advance. Mr. Kurita was in a difficult spot. After a few phone calls and more discussion among themselves, he said with a deep breath that he would find a way to do it on January 21st. His face was red with mixed emotions - happy for us but with a big headache as to how he could shuffle the program.

‘Indian Couple on TV’, so read the caption in Mainichi Daily News, a major daily English newspaper on January 22nd. NTV Studio, Yomiuri Hall in Yurakucho, Tokyo, has a seating capacity of about 100 persons. I thought of inviting His Excellency and Mrs. Vincent Coelho, the Ambassador of India.

January is Japan’s coldest month and it was raining again heavily on the 21st. Despite the weather and against all the odds, virtually the entire embassy staff arrived for the televised wedding. Many friends – recipients of the 1000-plus letters which I had written from India but whom I had not had the opportunity to meet, also attended. Our company’s staff, Kanebo, Toei and ABK teams joined. It was a full capacity attendance.

During the one-hour show, Renu was advised not to speak a single word except the phrase ‘Zen Zen Wakarimasen’ meaning ‘I don’t understand at all’. The three TV personalities asked several questions including ”Who is the guy sitting next to you?”   This drew tremendous laughter when she answered “Zen Zen Wakarimasen”. His Excellency Mr. Coelho commented that the marriage by the two Indian nationals in Japanese traditional style is not only a memorable event but it brought India closer to Japanese hearts as well. Culturally, both nations share similar values and this marriage would hopefully lead many Japanese to try to get married in Indian style. It was an experience to remember forever.

Later in the afternoon we had a reception party hosted by Nippon TV. Most of the friends and well-wishers came directly from studio. Dr. CBJ Rao, an esteemed senior colleague from ABK, was the master of ceremony. Mr. Hideo Nakajima did the simultaneous interpretation in English for the benefit of Ambassador and Mrs. Coelho and Renu. Mrs. Coelho presented to Renu a return ticket to Sapporo, Hokkaido, for our honeymoon. Renu had never seen snow before.

We sent a creative ‘Wedding Information’ card to all our well-wishers around the globe. It had our picture in Kimono and a clip from Mainichi Daily News. It was very well received. Papaji kept on asking for more and more to send to his friends. Renu became a celebrity appearing in Asahi Evening News and many weekly magazines.

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 Lesson

No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.