51 couples tie the knot in Ahmedabad

51 couples tie the knot in Ahmedabad
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Ahmedabad, Feb 4: It was a colourful scene for the otherwise mourning Ahmedabad, with 51 couples tying nuptial knots to begin a new life in Sabarmati here today amidst the yet to be cleared debris caused due to last week's devastating earthquake.

More than 12,000 people from all over Gujarat attended the `Sabarmati shatriya thakor samaj vikas mandal's' community wedding with brides and bridegrooms dressed in ceremonial red and white sans any real gold jewellery.

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``This is the sixth mass wedding organised by our samaj. But the response is comparatively poor this time because of the earthquake. On previous occasions, we had more than 150 couples from all over the state tying nuptials'', samaj chief Kanjibhai Thakor told PTI.

In the wake of the killer earthquake, the samaj also decided to make the wedding simpler. None of the 51 brides wore gold jewellery, he said.

``I had a tragedy, but owing to personal reasons did not cancel the wedding'', Amrat Thakor, a bridegroom from Rupaal said.

Tara, his wife said, ``it was a conscious decision not to wear any gold jewellery. I am too moved by the tragedy.''

The samaj has a budget of Rs seven lakh for giving the newly-weds utensils, clothes, some cash, two chairs, an electronic mixer and some other household essential items as gifts.

``We organise the mass weddings through donations collected from people,'' Thakor said.

He said the samaj had planned to postpone the event, but on the insistence of the participants the date was kept and ceremony made simple.

In the buffet at the marriage, menu was a sabzi (curry), puris, dal and rice, without any sweet.

The ceremony was simpler also for the reason that the samaj had spent a good part of its money in purchasing the wedding trousseaus for the brides.

``We have charged Rs 2,000 per participant and preparations for the mass wedding had commenced four months before'', Ramilaben Thakor, chief of the samaj's ladies wing said.

The bride and bridegrooms had come to Sabarmati from as far as Banaskatha, Patan, Dwarka, Koteshwar, Paldi, Lambha and Motera.