Billionaire Manu Chandaria Marries at AG's Office

Business mogul Manu Chandaria, 90, on Friday solemnised his marriage to his wife, Aruna Chandaria, 85, at the attorney general's Sheria House office, Nairobi.

The couple has been together for the past 64 years, happily married and still in love.

In a photo seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Manu, dressed in a black suit and a tie marching Aruna's golden-orange Sari, lovingly kissed his wife in celebration.

In the background, a guard admires and stares at the two, probably agreeing with the common phrase among lovers, 'grow old together.'

Past reports by The Standard stated that Manu and Aruna got married in 1955 in a simple informal wedding that only took two and a half hours at Visa Oshwal centre in Mombasa.

The Chandarias were brought together by family and business interests, but theirs was not an arranged marriage as was the norm in the Indian community then. 

Aruna was born in Thika while Manu was born in Nairobi, but both families moved to India during World War II.

Both were in college during that period but returned to Kenya separately before meeting again in 1952, which rekindled memories of their earlier days and they fell in love.

"Weddings back then were conducted immediately, but because our families were estranged, it took two to three years," revealed the 90-year-old in a past interview.

By 1955, they had convinced both families to allow them to marry each other and Manu, who was 26, then married Aruna, who was only 21. 

Aruna made the decision to be a housewife and build a home, where she developed her hobbies that included tapestry, cooking, gardening and growing orchids while Chandaria took care of business.

Considered one of Kenya’s most successful businessmen, he had the capability of planning a lavish wedding but went simple, as is his custom.

The certified engineer only has five suits, two belts, a number of sweaters and around 10 shirts.