Bengaluru: Businessman Mahendra Ranka Jain cuts daughter’s wedding budget to feed 1,000 people

BENGALURU: At a time when extravagant weddings are the norm, businessman Mahendra Ranka Jain has cut down the food budget of his daughter’s April 21 wedding by Rs 2 lakh and diverted the amount to charity.
The initiative is the brainchild of Jain and 20 of his friends, who are a part of Jain Friends’ Group. They had been planning to start a programme to motivate people to donate more generously.With Jain’s daughter’s wedding, they decided to lead by example and show how one could give back to society.
The group has come together to distribute food to 1,000 attendants of patients in four hospitals across the city from Sunday and it will go on till April 21. The food will be given by Iskcon and the group will bear the expenditure.
Jain, a businessman, told TOI that he had always disliked wasting food and decided to only keep a limited variety on the menu.
“It is our social responsibility to make sure that food is not wasted. So many people go without food for days, and at such a time, I feel it is a crime to waste food,” he said, adding that the family was given a menu of 125 items, of which they could choose more than 60 but instead, picked only 30 items. For instance, instead of an entire range of fruits on the fruit counter, they have opted only for mango. Instead of eight to nine types of sweets, they have picked only four.
Jain said they will leave no stone unturned to pamper their guests, but the servings will be mindful. He said the soon-to-be wedded couple – Priyanka and Naman Jain – are ecstatic about the initiative. “Everyone is happy that the wedding will be blessed by thousands of people who will not go hungry in these five days,” he said.
Change in mindset
Rakesh Jain, businessman, social worker, and member of the Jain Friends Group, said they hope to inspire people to do the same. “Weddings are a lavish affair across all communities with so many unnecessary expenses. While we do not bat an eyelid before spending lakhs to feed the rich, we must also serve the underprivileged without hesitation. It will be possible if we change our mindset, cut the unnecessary corners, and give back to society,” Jain said.
The group of friends is helping Mahendra Jain with logistics. Rakesh Jain said the responses from patients’ attendants have made it all worthwhile. “At each spot, they have blessed us saying we are doing a great job. Their smiles and blessings are more worthy than any expensive party,” he said.