Maneka Sorcar with her fiance Susmit Ranjan Halder and (below) Maneka on stage

He may make water flow incessantly from a magic pitcher with a flick of his wand on stage but when it comes to the marriage of his daughters, P.C. Sorcar Junior had left it to the hands of god.

“I believe in miracles. Maneka has agreed to marry,” the celebrated magician laughs, announcing the wedding of his eldest daughter. The ceremony will take place on May 2 in Calcutta.

The prospective groom is Susmit Ranjan Haldar, a 37-year-old engineer who has set up his own company. His father Sucharu Ranjan Haldar is a physician and the sitting Trinamul Congress MP from Ranaghat, Nadia.

“Every time the question of marriage came up, she would say there were no worthy men in the city. So when I got a call from Susmit one night, struggling for words but finally seeking my daughter’s hand, I blurted out, ‘Boroma raji hoyechhey (Has she agreed)?’”

Maneka, who was present in the room at the time, giggles when asked about the day, about six months back. “It is tough to surprise a magician, especially when he is P.C. Sorcar. But this was one of those rare moments.” Susmit had proposed and already been accepted by then.

The two met in the US about five years ago. “We were in Philadelphia for our show. Susmit had completed his MBA at New York University and had set up his firm. I met him through common friends,” says Maneka. Though she came back soon after, they kept in touch.

“Distance was pyar ka dushman,” says Maneka, dramatically. As the bearer of the family baton, she was determined not to shift base out of Calcutta. Maneka is the ninth in the family line to wield the wizard’s wand.

Her decision became easier when Susmit decided to return to India to be with his ageing parents.

How does it feel to have a magician as one’s wife? “She can make me appear and disappear at her will,” Susmit chuckles, adding on a serious note, “Every relationship is magic and depends on small and large miracles. I’d hope for our share of those.”

Now the Sorcar household is preparing for the wedding on a war footing, as it were. “I have opted for a blood red Benarasi sari from Benaras which must be weighing close to three kilos,” she winces. The groom’s panjabi is being designed by mother Joysri, who is in charge of the show’s costumes as well as Sorcar’s personal wardrobe. “As for the menu, the only request I have made is for the inclusion of a traditional prawn item which is Susmit’s favourite,” says Maneka.

As for the guest list, one person who will be invited from both sides is chief minister Mamata Banerjee. “I know her for years. Once when she was the railway minister, we met in Delhi. She asked if my troupe had trouble booking rail tickets and jokingly handed me a miniature train. I will meet her soon,” says Sorcar.

But there are no honeymoon plans yet. True to the Sorcar motto of “The show must go on”, the bride would be off to western India in end-May for a string of shows with her father. “Susmit too has a hectic schedule. I have asked him to join me in the weekends,” says Maneka.