In era of swanky cars, man takes his bride on bicycle

Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, November 29

In this era of swanky cars, a 24-year-old man of Ramnagar village in Maur here cycled 21 km to reach a village in Mansa to marry the girl of his dreams.

Talking to Bathinda Tribune, groom Gurbakshish Singh Bhangu said, “Five years ago, I was very clear in my head that mine would be a simple wedding with no financial burden either on the boy’s or the girl’s side. There are two simple ways how I see it: first is that you would save a plenty of money which your parents have earned while shedding their blood, sweat and tears all their life and second is that you do not want to be part of show-off by splurging a large amount of money on a single event.”

However, the groom had to bear a lot of criticism for going against the trend of observing a fat wedding.

“The groom’s father is a landlord with 45 acres of agricultural land in the village and has enough wealth. He would not have hesitated in splurging money on his son’s wedding as did by most of his cousins and mates in the village. Gurbakshish owns two cars and a motorcycle, but it was his decision that just like his routine of running errands on a bicycle, he wanted to lead the wedding procession on a bicycle. On his son’s insistence on letting him live his dream of a simple wedding, the father was moved by his noble idea,” said one of the relatives of Gurbakshish who also accompanied the groom on a bicycle.

Gurbakshish, who is pursuing an MA in Philosophy from Government Rajindra College, said, “I have not spent a single penny on my wedding as no reception party and no arrangements for food were made. There were only 12 guests, including family members and close relatives. Residents of the village and even relatives did not like my idea of a very simple marriage. Moreover, their reaction was on the expected lines which I had always anticipated.”

His wife, 22-year-old Ramandeep Kaur, was also elated over the decision of going for a simple wedding.  A resident of Bir Khurd village in Mansa district, she has completed her BSc in microbiology.

Ramandeep Kaur said, “My parents immediately said yes to the proposal of a simple wedding without any extravagance or demand of dowry and expressed gratitude to my in-laws. The rituals were performed in a gurdwara at Thuthianwali village, which is equidistant from our villages.”

Gurbakshish has two elder sisters. While the eldest was married 10 years ago, the second was married two and a half years ago.

He proposed the idea of a simple wedding to the in-laws of his sister as well but they declined the same. Being from the girl’s side, they had to organise a wedding function on which both sides splurged.

But when it came to his own wedding, he did not want to let this opportunity go waste, so he had started convincing his parents and even started practising cycling on a daily basis as part of preparations for the wedding procession.

“Amid criticism and biting remarks by many, there were heart-warming responses too from some of relatives and friends, especially girls from my college. They supported my decision. It is my belief that I have not just gone for a simple wedding, but have set a new precedent for others,” added Gurbakshish.