Great Indian wedding gets a budget rethink
The big fat Indian wedding just got bigger as Delhi witnessed yet another lavish spread when a politician’s son got married recently and a chopper was the wedding gift. Just when we thought that the new generation is way beyond the expensive shaadi craze, this one highlighted how grand weddings are getting grander by the day. We don’t know about politicians, but youngsters are surely not amused by the idea of such huge wastage on weddings when a major part of the population finds it hard to get two square meals in a day.
“I think it’s time we think about helping those who are needy. At a time when we have millions of people striving to get the basic minimum requirements, such lavish weddings don’t make sense. Indians like huge celebrations. In the end, only the parents of girl are the real sufferers,” says Mandeep Singh, who works with Amity.
And it’s not just youngsters, but also our Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who doesn’t like the idea. In her recent statement, she was quoted as saying, “I have told the CLP that we should not resort to extravagant spendings. We should avoid such wasteful expenditure. I told them that care should be taken to ensure that such functions do not affect the traffic and disturb the neighbourhood.”
And why not? “It amazes me how people take loans just to spend lakhs on their children’s weddings. The whole idea is just to assure the so-called boy’s family that they have a lot of money. I’ve told my parents I’ll have a court marriage. I can put my wedding expenses to better use for sure,” says Saurabh, a student from Canada.
Manisha Yadav, who works with a PR firm, tells us how she loves extravagant Indian weddings. “Marriage is something that happens only once in your life for most people. So, the expenses are bound to be high. But unwanted expenses can be reduced. One should draw a line somewhere while spending money. Expensive jewellery and clothes can be avoided, but you can’t deny the fun and frolic these grand weddings bring with them,” quips Manisha.
The younger generation, being smart with money, feels it’s best to spend lavishly on their honeymoon. “My girlfriend and I have a fabulous plan for our wedding. We are going in for a simple wedding in a gurudwara and then we’ll splurge on our honeymoon. We are planning a trip to Europe to rejuvenate and spend quality time with each other. There’s a lot that can be done with the money wasted on a grand wedding,” says Pyush Kapoor (name changed on request).
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