Wedding costs to be cut

KOLKATA: Members of more than 80 Marwari associations on Sunday put their heads together and announced that henceforth they would drastically cut down on expenditure in all social functions including wedding ceremonies.
Over 200 m e m b e r s from these ass o c i a t i o n s took an oath to “put an end to unproductive and wasteful expenditure�.
So henceforth ‘Ring Siromani’ and distribution of laddu boxes on the occasion of tilak, birthday parties and sagai will be restricted only among close relations.
No wedding dinner will have more than 21 items, including soft drinks. “We have also called for a revival of the traditional ‘four rupees milni’ system in marriages and called for a permanent stop to the dowry system and to boycott any marriage where dowry is accepted. Among other decisions were to stop music in social functions and cut down on extravagant wedding cards,� said Sajjan Saraf one of the convenors.
If these rules are henceforth violated by any family, they may be socially boycotted. Sunday’s decision has the blessings of the International Marwari Federation, the All India Marwari Federation, the Calcutta Marwari Federation, Posta Bazar Merchants Association and many others.
Senior community leaders like Pushkarlal Kedia, Jugal Kishore Jethalia and IMF president and MLA Satya Narayan Bajaj were present.
“Its time our words reflected action. If boycotting marriages doesn’t help in improving current situation, peer pressure from the society should be doubled with physical force to create a sense of fear in the members,� said CMF president Anil Sharma.
Those present at the seminar were unanimous about implementing the rules for a progressive Marwari society. Religious gurus would be requested to promote the message by following it up in their recourses.
“More than 75 per cent of marriage expense are due to decoration, food and other practices, which should be stopped,� said Kedia.