Thousands of weddings, one
country By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Driven by a propitious convergence
of astrology, numerology and romance, India is
undergoing an unprecedented wedding season. And, amid
all the celebrations, it boils down to very good
business for a vast coterie of people catering to
burgeoning demand as increasing prosperity drives
nuptial grandiosity to new heights.
For
instance, in Delhi
more than 12,000 weddings were held in on November
27 alone. In Ahmedabad in Gujarat, 20,000 are planned before
December 15. The budget of each wedding can range
from Rs 4,000 to Rs 4 million. It is estimated
that over Rs 500 million will to be spent on
weddings in a period of under a month.
The
confluence of marriages on the same day has much to do
with auspicious dates and times, which, because the
weddings are predominantly Hindu, fall on the same day.
The marriage deluge is of a particularly high order this
year as September and October had been declared devoid
of mahurats (auspicious days) by pandits and astrologers
while the months of November and December have been
slotted as most divine to tie the knot.
To clog
the calendar more, January and February again do not
find favor with the gods and the planetary
configurations. To narrow it down further, and more
specifically, November 17 to December 15 is the only
brief interlude of good days to marry in a six-month
period.
According to the well-known
astro-numerologist Aarti Chakrabroty, November contained
eight favorable days - 17, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 28 and 29
- with families trying to make the best of them. While
one is not sure how far this number play affects the
prospect of a marriage lasting longer, people dare not
infringe such assertions of faith.
The most
immediate impact has been
on the price of gold, as by tradition jewelry forms an
essential part of any bridal ensemble. Gold prices are
quoting at the highest in seven years. Gold, which
usually sells between Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 for
every 10 grams, is currently
priced at more than Rs 6,100. The last time it
touched this price was in March 1996. Yet, jewelers are
not complaining, as the demand remains quite high.
"The high rise in gold prices is affecting sales
only to a certain extent, but the market is not that
bad. Since this is the wedding season, people have to
buy gold. They don't have an option," said a
spokesperson for a prominent jeweler in Delhi.
Adding to the great marriage expenditure are
non-resident Indians (NRIs) from all over the world, who
have converged on their respective native areas to
combine family reunions with marriage celebrations. Many
more are simply on a shopping binge for the bride or
groom, as the case may be, to provide the right ethnic
touch to wedding trousseaus. The bulk spenders are the
cash and dollar-rich NRIs from the US who have been
flocking to the country with the biggest marriage
budgets.
The state of Gujarat, with an economically
powerful diaspora of Gujaratis scattered across
the world, leads by far in the NRI deluge. One report
suggests that as much as Rs 200 million of
marriage-related purchases comprising saris and jewelry
take place every day in the city of Ahmedabad alone.
Prema Patel, wife of a physician in Memphis, Tennessee,
is on a special shopping mission. Patel has already
bought bridal finery worth Rs 1.5 million for her
daughter and is still scouting stores across Ahmedabad
to buy wedding saris and lehngas (special dresses worn
by women) for a number of relatives back in the United
States.
"I have this big shopping list complete
with measurements. The wedding is in California but it
would be incomplete without shopping in Ahmedabad,"
Prema says. "I have come early to buy my sherwani and
marriage suit," she adds.
Across the country,
five-star hotels, banquet halls, party lawns and
caterers have been booked, and any father who has
arranged his daughterˇ¦s marriage in a hurry has a lot to
huff about. Among the people most in demand are pujaris
(who conduct the actual marriage ceremony) as well as
the colorfully attired bands who belt out popular Hindi
tunes and are essential to any baraat (a troupe of
relatives and friends who accompany the groom in the
procession resulting in horrible traffic jams that are
the order of the day).
Hair
stylists, wedding planners, caterers
and generators on lease have never been more
in demand. In Delhi, horses - the preferred mode for
the groom to travel in the baraat - have been shipped from
other states to meet the shortfall. Predictably, costs
have skyrocketed. Florists are making a killing,
and a rose that normally costs Rs 7-10 does not
come for less than Rs 20 even after lengthy haggling.
The really affluent hire popular film stars such as
Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor (costing up to Rs
100,000 an evening) for special song-and-dance
performances, with top designers such as Rohit Bal and
Ritu Kumar designing the clothes.
Others pull
out their best to entertain the guests, hiring event
management companies such as Bridal Affairs, which have
sprouted to tap the business of marriage as well as
organize all the paraphernalia that go with the
celebrations.
"Marriage is big business here," says
Hitesh Kumar, head of Bridal Affairs in Delhi. "Of the
Rs 50 billion spent in nuptial ceremonies across the
country each year, nearly Rs5 billion is pumped into
ceremonies in Delhi. Marriage is one of the best
businesses to be in as they happen round the year and is
a booming sector with budgets only going up."
Among the jobs lined up for Bridal Affairs are
organizing live disc jockeys and dance floors, arranging
elaborate sangeet (sing-along songs) by inviting
professional singers and holding parties for close
friends and relatives at exotic locations such as Goa,
Mauritius, Udaipur and destinations in Southeast Asia.
Then there are theme weddings that could be Egyptian,
Moroccan or Goan.
Indeed, the economics of
modern Indian marriages have spiraled in the last few
years, with the event being treated as an out-and-out
entertainment bonanza. Marriages, they say, are made in
heaven. In India there is a lot more to account for.
(Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist)
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Dec 3, 2003
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