Love in the Time of Covid-19: Punjabi Couple to Have Online Wedding Replete with Dhol, Pundit, Relatives

Love conquers all and Sushen Dang and Keerti Narang are set to prove that nothing can come in way of it, not even coronavirus. Notwithstanding the Covid-19 lockdown, the Punjabi families of Sushen and Keerti are all set to get them married and on the very date that they had planned all the ceremonies for the big fat Punjabi wedding.

While Keerti is a professional make-up artist, Sushen is a competitive intelligence analyst with a US-based company. Not ready to stay apart any longer, the love birds decided to go ahead as planned albeit with some changes as no one can travel currently or come together in groups.

If you are wondering how can Hindu rituals, with the holy mantras around the sacred fire ceremony, be completed without coming together, well, the families came up with a unique plan. The food, the toast to the couple and all sacred rituals will now take place online.

The families chalked out a strategy for the online wedding. The Mumbai-based groom will join in from his city and the bride will come online from Bareilly along with all relatives joining from all over the country.

Sandip Dang, the beaming father of the groom, says, “I am very excited. The families are as excited because our kids are happy. So everyone came along to go online from their own homes all over the country, including the pundit-ji.” All the attendees will come together on an online meeting app for the ceremony.

The ceremony will take place on Sunday and the lovely couple, who met online through a matrimonial site, will tie the knot in the presence of their loved ones while also following all the rules of the lockdown.

“I was pretty disheartened when the lockdown was announced, but can’t believe it is all coming together,” say the bride to be.

Dang says nothing was difficult as the dulha, dulhan, pundit-ji, relatives and even the dholwala have been lined up online for the ceremony. The restrictions on social gatherings are going to be in place for a long time, he feels, so the families did not want to waste time.

Sushen says the wedding was planned for April 19 and having a wedding from home is a pretty cool concept. “It’s a pretty Gen-Z thing. Being responsible citizens feels good,” he says.