NEW DELHI: Their plans of tying the knot hopelessly tangled in a pandemic that shows no signs of abating, many a wedding has been postponed but some couples are choosing to get married in simple, intimate ceremonies that are just about them.
Recasting the idea of the big fat Indian wedding — with guest lists running into many hundreds, sometimes up to 2,000, and lakhs of rupees spent on multiple functions and elaborate clothes — couples are going back to the basics on arguably the most important day of their lives.
Retaining the essence of romance and maybe the gravitas that should go with a long-term commitment, they are saying “I do” on rooftops, homes, temples, churches, and sometimes even state borders, with only immediate family in attendance. Sans ‘band, baaja, baraat’ and other extra frills, but with masks, sanitisers and social distancing norms in place. “We didn’t have a grand procession, decorations, firecrackers, feasts and relatives, but this was indeed the most memorable experience of my life,” said a bride in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district who did not want to be named.
“We had earlier arranged for a grand function. But the lockdown threw a spanner in the works. So we decided to donate a part of the money saved for the wedding to help the state combat the pandemic,” said Jyoti Ranjan Swain, the groom, a resident of Erasama block in the district.
Apart from the parents, an inspector of the Erasama police station and the block development officer (BDO) attended the wedding.
“This was no social gathering. The couple distributed sweets after the ceremony. It was a simple affair,” said the BDO Kartik Chandra Behera.
There have been many unlikely wedding venues over the years, but a check-post on the Assam-West Bengal border is likely to be top amongst them. That’s where Om Prakash Sha from Jalpaiguri in West Bengal reportedly wed Kajol from Dhubri in Assam last week.
Given the restrictions on movement from one state to the other and mandatory quarantine, the families approached the administrations of both districts for permission. After much discussion, officials decided the wedding would take place on the Dhubri-Jalpaiguri ‘boundary’.
The bride’s father Mahesh Sha said his family accepted the advice of the administration and the priest to go ahead with the wedding despite the odds because it was an auspicious day.
Taufiq Hussain and Abeda Begum also decided to go ahead with their wedding despite the lockdown. They got married at home in Goalpara, Assam, last month with only eight family members present. “This is the way marriages should always be conducted… among close relatives and people who matter rather than the usual fanfare and large sums of money being spent,” said Hussain.
His words found resonance many hundred miles away in the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai where K Shakthivel got married last month on the terrace of his home.
“It resulted in a saving of at least 75 per cent of the originally-planned expenditure of a few lakhs,” Shaktivel, an AC mechanic, said.
Only 10 family members were present since the hall he had booked was shut in view of the lockdown. But Shaktivel was content.
And that’s how it was for Rebin Vincent Gralan and Cila Lona, too, in neighbouring Kerala. They got married on April 15 at the St. Joseph’s parish shrine in Pavaratty with only 10 family members in attendance.
When lockdown throws a hurdle on the way to matrimony, just jump it – that’s what young couple seem to be saying as the coronavirus continues its spread. (PTI)
