Lock kiya jaye: Kolkata couple chant amid total lockdown – Times of India

Biswajit and Brihaspati’s wedding on Wednesday

KOLKATA: Thrice deferred, now locked down for life. A young couple, who had their wedding plans postponed three times in the last 15 months, tied the knot on Wednesday — the last ‘total lockdown’ July day in Bengal — at home, minus the pomp but with the addition of lockdown and social distancing protocol.
For the wedding of Biswajit Ghosh and Brihaspati Halder, everyone associated with the curtailed ceremony — the select few guests, the cooks, even the priest — were made to stay at the groom’s house in Baguiati since Tuesday night, a day before everything came to a halt outside.
Biswajit (30), an electrician, and Brihaspati (25), a hair stylist, had been in love for the last three years and their wedding had been fixed last year. But the bride’s mother fell ill, forcing them to cancel March date and postpone the event to December.
But after Brihaspati’s mother died, the year-end date, too, had to be cancelled. After registering their marriage in December, the couple scheduled their social wedding in March 2020. But, this time, lockdown crept in and they further re-scheduled it to July 29.
“It was almost as if we were fighting some invisible force that was hindering our wedding,” Biswajit told TOI a few hours before finally tying the knot. “And, this time, we were desperate to get hitched even if it meant hugely curtailing the added ceremonies. We planned it accordingly, and sought permission from cops five days back. They said they had no problem if we held the ceremony inside our house, but told us to make sure there was no gathering and that no one stepped out because of the total lockdown. We agreed.”
Since Biswajit has the bigger house, the bride, along with her nine family members from Santoshpur, off the EM Bypass, came over to their place on Tuesday afternoon itself. By late Tuesday evening, a few friends and relatives of Biswajit, the cook, his helpers and the priest also came in to spend the night. “We cut down on all non-essential people like photographers, electricians, caterers and decorators and have turned the occasion into a very homely affair with a total of only 30 guests that include only close relatives and friends,” said Biswajit.
Central guidelines allow a maximum of 50 guests in wedding-related functions, in view of the pandemic.
The bride, who did her make-up and styling by herself — said it felt a little odd to get married under such circumstances, but added that this arrangement was the best they could manage on a lockdown day. “It feels a bit weird to get married on a lockdown day. But I am happy that at least we are finally getting married. Perhaps we will celebrate our anniversary in a grander fashion with family and friends,” said Brihaspati, moments before sitting for the marriage rituals.
The rituals were also altered and cut short to ensure no gathering around the couple, while sanitizer bottles and masks were handed over to each guest and thermal checks periodically done among the family members.
“We strictly instructed the family to not step out of their home, but allowed them to hold the wedding within their house with bare minimum guests, maintaining all social distancing protocols,” said a senior officer of the Bidhanngar Commissionerate.