Calcutta, Sept. 23 :    Calcutta, Sept. 23:  After winning the Pulitzer and dining at the White House, Jhumpa Lahiri is heading straight for the altar - in Calcutta. The date: January 15, 2001. The place: Singhi Palace in Gariahat. The bridegroom: Alberto Vourvoulias, Time sub-editor and Jhumpa's boyfriend for two years. But except for the bridegroom and the bride's accent, everything about the wedding will be Bengali with a vengeance. The Boston-based writer of Interpreter of Maladies is all set to brave the elaborate Bengali marriage ceremony in benarasi and mukut, followed by basibiye and baubhaat, said Anasuya Sanyal, wife of Jhumpa's maternal uncle Tushar Sanyal But the 33-year-old author, with a novel to finish off by December, has publishers breathing down her neck and is too busy to wrack her brain about what kind of benarasi she will wear, Anasuya said. But Jhumpa has made one special request: she wants her uncle Tushar, an artist, to paint the chandan on her forehead. 'She will look good anyway. She is striking, much more beautiful than her pictures,' said Anasuya, who is making all the arrangements of the marriage with husband Tushar. Tushar has also designed the first set of wedding cards which was despatched to Jhumpa's parents in the US for guests abroad. The card too has a traditional Bengali motif: a golden fish against a red background. But if the marriage throws some light on Jhumpa's roots - she describes herself as an American author, an Indian author, an Anglo-Indian author, an NRI author and an American-Born Confused Desi author, all together, and writes stories about Bengal, Boston and beyond - the marriage will also present Alberto as the perfect Bangali jamai. Alberto, who will be here with his father and some friends, is taking a keen interest in the Bengali rituals, said Anasuya. He will definitely need practice to survive the complicated turns of a dhuti. After the wedding at Singhi Palace, the borjatris will hold a reception from their side. Tapati Lahiri, Jhumpa's mother, will be coming here from the US in December for the marriage. Speaking to The Telegraph over the phone, she confirmed that Jhumpa was getting married. However, she added nothing else had been finalised. 'Everything is being discussed,' she said. Jhumpa's friends and other relatives here, however, confirmed the marriage. Jhumpa will come here after Tapati, but the press will not be told when she arrives. The marriage was also being kept a secret because Jhumpa is notoriously publicity-shy. 'Jhumpa is a very simple person, really. Seeing her with her family, you wouldn't believe she has won the Pulitzer,' said Anasuya. 'That is why, when she comes to Calcutta, she wants to be with us only, away from the glare of media,' said Anasuya. But Calcutta, which has already claimed Jhumpa as its own, has never allowed its heroes peace. So here's wishing Jhumpa all the best - for her marriage, and for the madding crowd that awaits her in Calcutta.