From shagun to kanyadaan, two weddings in UP go cashless

AGRA: Aarti Kaushik of Mathura and Tara Goswami of Vrindavan could well be the poster girls of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for "cashless India", as they were married off by their families without spending any cash.
Right from paying for tents, to caterers and pundits, to even giving shagun, all transactions were carried out by cheques or bank transfers, as no cash was available with the families.
Talking to TOI, Ganesh Kaushik, whose younger sister Aarti got married on Saturday said that like all others they too were hit by the cash crunch due to the sudden demonetisation. He said since it was difficult to arrange money by standing in bank lines, they decided to go "cash less".
He said though convincing vendors to accept cheques was slightly problematic in the beginning, but they all agreed, as there was no other way out. He said all payments by them, including those made to DJ and the 'band walas', were in cheques. "Even shaguns to baratis were paid in cheque", he said.
Dinesh Goswami, Aarti’s brother in law, said even the customary 'kanyadan' was done by gifting cheque to the bride, as they were unable to buy anything for her. He however said that they faced a lot of difficulties with no cash at hand.
In the other wedding at Vrindavan, which was solemnized on November 25, Tara Goswami was too married off by her family by paying for all in cheques. Her brother Chetan said since they had no option, as they had no cash in hand. “The money that we had withdrawn earlier was utilised for daily expenses so we paid by cheques for all other marriage related expenses, including payments to caterers and pundit.