Weddings in the time of a virus

Notwithstanding the ‘Janata Curfew’ , some couples tie the knot

23/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

DMDK leader Vijayakant presiding over a wedding on Sunday.

Amidst the ‘Janata Curfew’, some families managed to conduct weddings in the city and elsewhere in the State.

While some cut down on the number of guests, others decided to hold the receptions at a later date.

The wedding of V. Vimalkumar and K. Kamali of Saidapet was held at the house of DMDK founder Vijayakant. “We had planned to conduct it in a temple, but since temples were closed, we had no place to go. When we informed the Captain (Vijayakant) about this, he welcomed us to his house. We will never forget his gesture. The wedding was held with a priest officiating it and 17 members from the families of the bride and the groom taking part,” said P. Venuram, the groom’s father and DMDK’s labour wing deputy secretary. Mr. Venuram, who runs a tiffin centre at Venkatapuram in Little Mount, arranged for breakfast at his house after the wedding. “There was a very different feel to it. We were concerned about whether we would be able to pull off the wedding, since the van driver refused to come,” he said.

L.N. Srinivasan of LVN Catering, Mylapore, said they seated two persons in place of the usual three at each table. “The wedding party ensured that the guests were safe and arranged for hand sanitisers. In place of 800 guests, they had 150,” he said.

In Tiruchi, events held in a couple of prominent wedding halls witnessed a muted attendance of family members. “A majority of our relatives arrived here last night, knowing full well that there will be a lockdown, and stayed put at the wedding hall to participate in the event on Sunday. We went ahead with the wedding as it could not be cancelled, given that all the arrangements had already been made,” said K. Ravi, an uncle of the bridegroom. In some wedding halls in Thanjavur districts, face masks were provided to the participants.

In Madurai, Thoothukudi and Thiruchendur, couples advanced the muhurtham to between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., before the start of the curfew.

As in other places, weddings in Udhagamandalam and Krishnagiri took place with very small gatherings. In Udhagamandalam M. Jayanandhini and R. Mathan Raj called off their reception on Sunday due to the curfew. The wedding took place in a temple, with just 20 participants.

The wedding plans of Revathi from Krishnagiri and Sharath from Bengaluru got derailed by the virus. The couple wed in the presence of just eight persons. In Dharmapuri, a Muslim couple got married in the presence of a modest gathering.

(With inputs from R. Rajaram in Tiruchi, P.A. Narayani in Madurai, Rohan Premkumar in Udhagamandalam, P.V. Srividya in Krishnagiri and Deepa H. Ramakrishnan in Chennai).