The views expressed in this column are the individualu2019s and donu2019t represent those of the paper 47 weddings and a quarrel! T he closest Iu2019m ever likely to get to an orgy is being at 47 weddings in one go, on one stage.
But Iu2019m not talking about the multiple fancy, pre/ post wedding parties in Udaipur, the sorts that the Ambanis hosted for their daughter Isha in City Palace in 2018. The one I was at, in the outskirts of Udaipur, is where the Ambanis had simultaneously sent free food to feed the poor, for whom hosting a wedding often equals halving their lifeu2019s income.
So far theyu2019ve got 2,051 couples married in 33 ceremonies since 2000.
The music and dances seem to have a stronger Gujarati influence, given Udaipuru2019s proximity to the neighbouring state. The venue itself is part of the hospital the NSS runs for the physically and mentally challenged, with surgical wards, units manufacturing calipers and artificial limbs, skill- training centres for both patients and their attendants while they stay on for months for treatment. All of which is offered free of charge, along with food and mattress.
Hadnu2019t heard of NSS, before this community wedding. And itu2019s quite splendid, have to say, looking at what they dou2014 especially with free treatment of the limbless. Heavily recommend you check out their centre after a night of vulgar splurging at Leela/ Taj/ Oberoi properties in Udaipur. Itu2019ll feel like chicken soup for the soul.
A grand old patriarch Kailash Agarwal, on centre stage, overseeing this mass wedding, had set up this NGO in 1985. He was once a banker, and is now blind himself. His son Prakash runs the show. Theyu2019re about to set up a similar 500- bed hospital in the heart of Udaipur.
But how the hell did I land up at this unusual wedding party? Honestly, out of guilt, and from a moment of epiphany; both of which ideally occur in a stoned state, which I was in, by the ghats of Benaras once, chatting with a potential date on an app, who I could meet in Delhi on my way back. After a few weeks of acquaintanceship I froze when she told me that she had lost her legs in an accident. Suddenly, I wasnu2019t sure if I wanted to meet her! This of course set me off to question my own moral fibre. Up until then I genuinely believed ( still do), that humans are essentially divided into four quadrantsu2014 men, women, rich, and poor; every other distinction being a political obfuscation.
What about the physically challenged? They had not even crossed my mind. How hard is it for them to find companionship? On the sidelines of this community wedding, I met Jaya, 32, and Deepak, 31, both of whom had got similarly married with the help of NSS the previous year in Udaipur.
Theyu2019re from the same taluka in Maharashtra.
What unites them most is the lack of lower limbs. There is an annual booklet that gets published in their taluka with updated names and contact details of men and women past a certain age, who are still unmarried.
But, more importantly, Jaya tells me, who belong to the same u201c samaaju201d ( caste). Thatu2019s how Jaya met Deepak, and they came together to this NSS hospital to work at the skill- centre, helping out with the wards, learning mobile- phone repair, and they got married. I wouldu2019ve found someone soon enough anyway, Deepak tells me. Jaya isnu2019t pleased. I beat a hasty retreat from this domestic quarrel! Prakash Agarwal, who runs NSS, and has assisted thousands of poor from the region, and his physically challenged patients find love/ companionship after free treatment, tells me itu2019s hard enough that the u201c divyangu201d are eliminated from the regular marriage mart, due to their disability. That they are still not allowed to, or arenu2019t comfortable with, stepping out of caste is a burden even heavier than their physical challenge. Only sometimes when theyu2019re really old that they get okay with looking beyond caste, Prakash tells me.
He clearly enjoys playing Cupid though, I can tell, as I bump into him on my flight back. u201c Whatu2019re you doing in Bombay,u201d I ask him. u201c Attending a wedding,u201d he says. Of course, and looking for suitable matches as well, Iu2019m guessing. u201c Aapki shaadi ho gayi kya ( Are you married?),u201d he asks me.
u201c No, not interested,u201d I tell him, before he starts making a strong pitch already. Donu2019t, donu2019t even go there, I smile, and bugger off! Attended the mother of all ceremonies in Udaipur, Indiau2019s destination wedding capital. And, it was nothing like what youu2019re thinking Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture. He tweets @ mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbag@ mid- day. com Couples too poor to afford a wedding ceremony and ( right) a differently- abled couple at a mass wedding ceremony in Udaipur Mayank Shekhar MS Word
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