Basant Panchami is desi V-Day

MUMBAI: Fareed Karachiwala, member of a well-known solicitors��� family, couldn���t have timed his wedding any better.
After 13 years of courting Sona Gandhi, this advocate got married as per Vedic rites on Monday on the occasion of Basant Panchami.
He chose to have his reception on Valentine���s Day despite there being a three-day gap between the marriage and the party.
"My wife felt Basant Panchami was an auspicious day to tie the knot and we solemnised our marriage on that day,������ the 31-year-old Karachiwala told TOI.
"Since Valentine���s Day was close, I wanted the reception to be on that day.������ It took 13 years for the families of the bride and groom to agree to the marriage as Gandhi is a Jain and Karachiwala a Muslim.
"Our families agreed around December, so we decided to marry in February as the days are good and so is the climate,������ beamed Karachiwala.
Theirs is not an isolated case. The Bandra marriage registrar���s office, which sees 10 to 15 marriages a day, saw a high of 28 unions on Basant Panchami this year.
On Tuesday there were just eight unions solemnised, while on Wednesday it dwindled down to a mere three. On Valentine���s Day it will again swell to 22.
Though Valentine���s is a much-hyped affair, the general population still considers Basant Panchami, the Hindu equivalent of V-Day, important.
It���s the the fifth day of the start of spring, mythologically considered to be a romantic season. Pandit Madhav Prasad Pandey, who conducts marriages in the Mumbai region, explained, "The day is auspicious and one needn���t look for a muhurat on that day. People going for court marriages do not consult astrologers. For them, this day seems safe.������
The marriage bureau may see peaks and lows this week, but the family court, which grants divorces, runs as usual. Despite February 14 being lovers��� day, almost 250 cases of divorces are slotted for hearing. Many couples will receive their final orders, relieving them of their married status.
"On any given day, there are 50 cases up for hearing. As long as it���s a working day, the cases will come up, irrespective of any festivity,������ said advocate Niranjan Bhadang.