EK VIVAH AISA BHI 16/07/2010

Tags:Patna|Hajipur|Gayatree Sharma|Ma Vaishno Devi Sewa Samiti
PATNA: Forty eight girls dressed in red sarees and red chunnis, pearl strings adorning their necks, and make up walked on to the stage, one at a time, to put the "jaimala" onto the bridegrooms' necks, who had been waiting patiently for their brides to arrive. All the 48 brides and 48 bridegrooms, brought together for life by Ma Vaishno Devi Sewa Samiti, had been waiting for this one-in-a-lifetime day, their wedding day, when they would tie the nuptial knot for the last many months, till the time the samiti had made all the elaborate arrangements, including the separate rickshaws for the grooms to arrive at the wedding venue.

Before the `jaimala', the star attraction was the gorgeously dressed brides, who sat in one room. Even though they had arrived the day of the wedding from different parts of Bihar and Jharkhand, a shy glow was visible in their eyes, glad that somebody had thought of them.

Munni Kumari, 24, from Hajipur, Jyoti Kumari, 22, from Ashiana Na-gar, Rupa Bharti, 18, an Intermediate BSc student, all from the underprivi-leged sections of society, were happy that the samiti, a charitable institu-tion, had taken the onerous task of looking for grooms from their same communities and was getting them married. Munni, stricken with polio at an early age, had lost her father, and her chacha and chachi were perform-ing the `kanyadaan'. Two cousins from the infamous Rajapakar village of Vaishali, were getting married in the year 2008, but could not, as their houses burnt. In this `Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi' the samiti, acting as match-maker, finally found matches for them.

Sanjay Kumar, a groom from Danapur is thrilled that his wife, Shobha Kumari, had completed Class 10 from Khuspupur. He says, "I think my would-be wife can even get a small job somewhere which will go a long way in helping with the family expenditure." But Hira, a migrant labourer in Punjab, is not, too, sure whether his bride, Anjani Kumari, 20, from Godda, Jharkhand, would be interested in working outside the house.

The row of similar looking mandaps were no less crowd-pullers. Ex-quisitely designed in thermocol and woodwork with painted panels, the lighted mandaps had been equipped with all the items used in a wedding __ earthen hathi, matka with burning clay lamp, two peedhas __ and a separate purohit to perform wedding rituals for every couple. The wed-dings have been arranged free of cost by the samiti, barring that each purohit would be given Rs 501. Each mandap, bride and groom had been given a number to ensure that the wedding rituals could be conducted in a smooth manner.

The samiti had organised the stay and food for both the brides and their guardians at the Maharana Pratap Road and the Bihari Sao Lane-based Sahu Samaj. The whole hall, occupied by the guardians of the brides and grooms, and some special guests including actor Kunal Singh graced the occasion by blessing the would-be-couples.