Humungous Hindu Weddings in Full Swing
Letter from New Delhi
Elaborate preparations, unlimited shopping, and numerous events add up to grand Hindu weddings
By Kul Bhushan
Loud music. Blinking decorations. Swanky crowds. Vast banquets. Designer wear. Glittering jewellery. All this means the annual Hindu marriage season is in full swing from 12 November until 16 December in North India.
No Escape
You can’t escape it. Massive hoardings showcasing the latest jewellery worn by savvy models confront you at many traffic lights. Newspapers bulge with full-page ads promoting luxury watches, jewellery, high-end cars, and a host of other products and services targeting the wedding splurge. TV channels and social media sites are flooded with wedding ads, repeating almost non-stop.
Six Trillion
An estimated 45,000 weddings are expected this season, with around 20,000 a day. On an auspicious day, 20 November, around 50,000 weddings are expected. Police have deputed over 4,000 personnel for traffic and crowd control. All this shopping and spending will pump almost six trillion rupees as wedding budgets range from Rs 300,000 to ten million and beyond for the super-rich. Not BIG FAT but humungous and obese events. India’s richest family, the Ambanis, set a record with their son’s wedding, hosting billionaires, top global CEOs, showbiz celebrities, film stars, politicians, and the global elite, estimated to have cost around 1,000 crores (approximately 5,506,030,000 MUR, or 11,834,100 USD)!
Why Splurge
Why do Hindus go crazy splurging on family weddings? Those at the top of the social ladder want to secure their prime positions. Social climbers assert their arrival. Businesspeople and professionals aim to impress clients with wealth and style. The middle class wants to showcase aspirations for the high life, while the poor enjoy a break from bleak lives.
Perfect Match
It all starts with searching for a ‘suitable’ marriage partner either on online sites or with Marriage Bureaus. With high registration fees for bureaus, costing rupees one lakh (Rs100,000) or more, you are introduced to one candidate at a time. With few introductions, finding a perfect match takes many months. Online searches mean trial and error as you are on your own to decide and commit. This is a long-drawn trial and error process which is a tough test of patience before the partner is finalised.Read More… Become a Subscriber
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 22 November 2024
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