Indian Brother misses Sister’s Wedding amid Lockdown

An Indian brother was unable to attend his sister’s wedding due to the lockdown, therefore a unique ceremony took place.

The brother was living in Punjab while the wedding took place in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

The wedding happened without the usual processions and the entire ceremony was completed within two hours.

Hardly anyone attended, five relatives from each family were at the venue to witness the wedding. As the brother could not attend, two relatives stepped in as brothers to marry his only sister.

Sangeeta Kaur got married to Govind Singh. The wedding was originally set for April 8, 2020, and more than Rs. 25,000 (£260) had been spent.

However, the Coronavirus crisis and the precautions meant that a traditional ceremony could not be done.

This also prevented Sangeeta’s brother, Darshan Singh, from being able to attend.

Surjit Singh, Sangeeta’s father, explained that due to his son’s absence, his family decided to rearrange the wedding for April 13 and for it to be a simple ceremony.

He spoke to the village elders about the idea, saying that no one knows what will happen in the future due to the ongoing situation. They approved of the idea.

They decided that no dowry was to be given.

On the day of the wedding at 9:30 am, five members of each family went to the wedding venue in order to comply with the lockdown rules.

Curfew is lifted between 9 am and 12 pm to allow citizens to buy essential items.

In the absence of the Indian brother, fewer rituals were completed and the ceremony was completed by 11:30 am.

After the marriage was completed, Sangeeta returned to her home in order to prevent any lockdown guidelines from being breached.

There was no issue with Sangeeta and Govind getting married as they live in the same city.

However, as state borders have been shut, written permission is needed to be able to pass the border prior to the marriage.

The wedding followed the precautions as there was not a large gathering and everyone kept their distance from each other.

In a similar case, a bride and groom shortened their wedding so that it would abide by the rules.

The wedding did not arrange for a baraat and no wedding food had been prepared.

Instead, the bride travelled by herself from her home in the Khanna area to the groom’s house. They then went to the Gurdwara Sahib.

At the wedding venue, the Sikh ceremony of Anand Karaj was conducted.

The ceremony was completed in just 44 minutes so that it would not breach lockdown rules.

Even the bride bidding farewell to her parents was made simpler. They briefly met with her before sending her to live with the groom and his family.