The food and the comments were plenty spicy at this reception

Passing up a short joke out of respect for 5-foot-5 Adit Kalra was too tall an order for some attending his Saturday wedding reception.

The affair at the Marriott Southwest, Minnetonka, had the flavor of a roast. Thankfully, Adit's friends were much more kind to his bride, the former Paveena Singh.

Adit and Paveena were married in a traditional lavish three-day Sikh ceremony in Thailand earlier this year. Paveena recently came to the United States; Adit works in the Twin Cities. Their reunion gave his parents, Kul and Sarita Kalra, owners of Bloomington's Tandoor Restaurant, a chance to throw a wedding reception here. It was also attended by Paveena's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Surin Singh, and other family and friends from Asia.

Tandoor catered the buffet and the dinner that followed. Regulars at Tandoor might have noticed that these offerings -- including a tangy crayfish -- were more spicy than the restaurant's buffet. "You know, all the Indian people like spicy food," Sarita said. "Buffet is mild, you know."

The spicy situation was not limited to the buffet or the reception, which is where the verbal abuse started for Adit. When the groom opened his suit coat to show off the tailor's label, one of his friends shouted out a crack that could be cleaned up as being about midget wear. A guest who identified himself as "Don, and that's all I'm going to tell you," was filled to his brim of 6-foot-7 height with insults for Adit. "We'll let him ride ponies. He's got lifts in his shoes," Don said. "When I give him a hug, he's always in my armpit, so I've got to make sure I've got deodorant on."

Charming Adit kept cool. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how we roll," explained Adit, who likes rap and, as a child, wanted to be a hockey player. His bride, Paveena, chimed in: "You'll hear him say that the whole night."

Deepak Nath, an owner of Envy Nightclub plus a childhood friend of Adit and emcee of the dinner, rolled all over the groom. He got an ample assist from Adit's brother Anuj Kalra, who was even hotter than the food. Don't believe me, and check out the startribune.com/video. I heard a woman plotting to marry off her daughter to Anuj, whose JFK Jr.-good looks must turn some heads in Chicago, where he lives.

"They are good friends," Sarita said. "Deepak said he was going to get even. I told him have at it. I told him not to hurt anybody, but it should be funny. Adit didn't want a party; it was my ambition to have a party. Don't write anything; we are simple people. I just need everybody's blessings."

'Svenomenon' moving? Hot untrue gossip has Sven Sundgaard leaving KARE 11, when his contract expires, for a new morning meteorological gig at WCCO-TV.

The talk has it that KARE11 low-balled Sundgaard, who became what news director Tom Lindner has called a "Svenomenon," after being hired in 2006 from a Duluth station. Sundgaard's looking to get paid!

"Well, that's news to me," WCCO's News Director Scott Libin said Monday when told the gossip. "Sven Sundgaard is not coming to WCCO to my knowledge, and I think I'd know. I think he does fine work, but nope, he's not coming to work here unless somebody out there hired him without my knowledge. That would be news."

I am also working on an item about the shocking turbulence in the life of another KARE 11 meteorologist! Stay tuned. Keep those juicy e-mails coming!

The "High School Musical" star's crowd wasn't THAT large -- huge crowd honors apparently go to the New Kids on the Block, who were at the mall on Friday. At any rate, her audience was dwindling when I left, apparently too soon, and missed whatever happened.

The PR people traveling with Hudgens and reps for the MOA said that they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and that she left the stage once only to take a phone call.