You need to go to the Mini Secretariat.

Once there, you need to go to the Deputy Commissioner’s Office.

Once there, you need to meet with the DC’s Reader. His / Her assistants and typists will then proceed to tell you how it’s done.

The office is open from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. and lunch is said to be from 1:30 p.m. till 2 p.m. although you might find them gone before that and coming in earlier than expected or vice versa.

Bharat & I didn’t want the whole shebang that comes with a traditional Indian BIG FAT wedding, hence the court seemed a convenient option – and it IS convenient.

You will need the following things done / documents / etc.

• One of the applicants should be a resident of Gurgaon.
• Notice of Marriage. [ the office will fill this in. You basically need to get a Rs. 25 ticket / stamp - not stamp paper - stuck on an empty sheet of paper and give it to the DC's office.
• Proof of Date of Birth for both. [ Passport, Tenth School certificate, etc. ]
• Proof of residence of both. [ Passport, Ration Card, Voter ID Card, Electricity Bill, Credit Card Bill etc. ]
• Marriage Notice fees of Rs. 90 to be paid through Treasury Challan.
• Notice to be witnessed by 3 persons.
• Witnesses will also require to bring in proof of residence and ID cards.
• Witnesses need to be present on the day of submitting the application for marriage AND also on the day of the marriage – same witnesses.
• Fees details letter. [ This also the DC's office will print out for you. You need to affix a blank sheet of paper with a Rs. 10 stamp - not a postal stamp but a legal 'Ticket' available somewhere near Gate Three near the courts - you WILL have to ask around for the Ticket Vendors. There is no way in hell I can give accurate directions. ]
• Affidavit by bride and groom on stamp paper of Rs. 10 [ this is a stamp paper, not a stamp on a blank sheet of paper ]. This needs to be attested by the notary public.
• Three photographs each of the bride and groom and each of the three witnesses.
• Four envelopes with requisite regular postal stamps to send notice to home address of applicants and to the Marriage office of the district – in this case, Gurgaon. You can find out who the marriage officer is for Gurgaon by asking at the DC’s office.
• After the application, the Tehsildar will verify that one of the applicants is staying in Gurgaon. The file will move further only if the verification report reaches the DC’s court. I’ve been told this can be an issue sometimes but I will only be able to report this once I’ve reached this stage.
• Applications SHOULD NOT be staying at one place – not under one roof.
• If the above process is not completed within three months of filing the application – for any reason whatsoever – all of the above will need to be repeated.
• Publication in National Newspaper. There is an ‘ad’ guy who sits in the DC’s office who should be able to do it conveniently – we’ve been told. I don’t know yet how much it costs.
• Notice period : 30 days from the day of the application. So you wait for 30 days after you’ve applied and then present yourself at the DC’s court to get ‘married’.

So far, that’s the deal.

Today was trip number ONE to the Mini Secretariat. The typist in the DC’s office was helpful but she failed to mentioned that tickets / stamps are not the same as stamp paper and the guy selling stamp paper smoothly palmed over stamp paper for Rs. 150 instead of the two required stamp papers of Rs. 10 plus tickets of Rs. 35 in total. He also hand-wrote our names wrongly on all documents. Nothing should be written on any of the documents except the Rs. 10 affidavits, bride’s name on one and groom’s name on one. That’s it. To get that sorted, I’m going to make trip number TWO.

I’ve also checked dates from my witnesses – they should be available for both the application & the actual marriage – and I’ve asked them to get the passport-size photographs as well.

Talking in Hindi helps. I think. It helps even more if you throw in a Haryanvi accent. Since I am a Jat, the accent comes automatically. People are overall quite nice – they might not be as lucid as you’d want them to be. If the prospective groom is on his own, he’s probably going to have more trouble getting stuff done. Take your girl along.

The car park costs Rs. 10. It’s a short dusty walk. Even though the office timings are 9-5, you won’t find many of the top officials coming in before 10 a.m. The clerks / typists / peons tend to come on time.

More later!