Manasi Kirloskar Opts For A Simple Wedding: Goals Anyone?

Manasi Kirloskar and Neville Tata are a couple who belong to two of the richest families in our country, as evident from their surnames. And yet, they recently got married in a simple civil ceremony at the groom’s house, as per The Economic Times. The ceremony was attended by the bride and groom’s parents and immediate relatives. Just some months ago, the nation was left exhausted by the sheer scale and guest list of two (almost) back to back weddings hosted by the richest family in our country. Which is why it is taking some time to process the fact that kids from two rich Indian families chose to have a civil ceremony at home.

SOME TAKEAWAYS:

• Manasi Kirloskar married Neville Tata recently in an intimate ceremony.
• Despite coming from two of the richest families in India, the couple had a civil ceremony.
• Indian weddings are spectacles which ride on our need of social appeasement and validation these days.
• But simple and intimate weddings are not only cost-effective; they are eco-friendly too.

Just some months ago, the nation was left exhausted by the sheer scale and guest list of two (almost) back to back weddings hosted by the richest family in our country.

Indian weddings are spectacles which ride on our need of social appeasement and validation. In the name of celebrating the union between a man and a woman, what we have these days are functions spread across minimum three days, and in case of rich and the famous, a minimum of two continents. Holding a royal wedding in India is oh so passé, one must fly off to exotic Italian country side, along with an entourage. The bottom line here is that weddings these days are held on a scale which does justice to family name and wealth, or that is what people think. The bills from caterer to designer to decorator should give parents sleepless nights and palpitation, else they will forever live with the guilt that they didn’t do “enough”.

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In the era of Insta weddings, even the most rational of brides and grooms give into the temptation having a wedding which they can flaunt on social media. Rarely do you come across a couple which forgoes all the extravagance and opts for a simple wedding, let alone a civil marriage held in presence of just their dear ones. Just a few days ago a bride got trolled for refusing to buy mangalsutra for her intimate wedding. When I read her Twitter thread, what struck out for me, was how they had chosen to have the wedding amidst just their loved ones.

The bills from caterer to designer to decorator should give parents sleepless nights and palpitation, else they will forever live with the guilt that they didn’t do “enough”

The lavish Indian wedding may be at the peak of its extravagance, but one feels and hopes that it is soon going to lose its lavish scale on a big scale. The Delhi government drafted a policy, which will limit the number of guests at any function in the capital. The move came out of concern for the wastage of food that celebrations like weddings were leading to. Astute civil weddings thus aren’t just more intimate and cost-effective; they are eco-friendly too. They save you time and energy and prevent wastage of electricity, water and food and generation of huge amounts of plastic waste. So what’s not to like?

But alas, the awareness that we have a responsibility towards the planet, and that while we have every right to celebrate a matrimonial union, it doesn’t have to be lavish, because everyone else is doing so, is yet to be mainstream.

Manasi and Neville are a famous and powerful couple. Hopefully this decision of theirs will prompt other women and men to rethink their idea of how a wedding should be. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself, what exactly are you celebrating at your wedding party?

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Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are author’s own.