The big fat Indian wedding…
I agree with Vivek Kaul – the Indian wedding got bigger and bigger. About 35 years ago when you had a wedding – one hall was booked. People stayed with their relatives or just slept on the floor in one big hall. Mostly one big sheet was provided and a few pillows. Technically you were provided one pillow for sure, but that could not be taken for granted.
The major expenses were sarees, jewelry, and travel costs. Of course there was food. However the family members bought the vegetables, hired the cooks, served the food themselves and hired help to clean the utensils…so there are a good hang on the costs.
Welcome to 2016. People with annual income of Rs. 4 lakhs spend Rs. 20L on their kids wedding. Amazing excuses – ‘Sambhandhi was expecting at least this much. Well, well,
If the children were to spend their own money, MAYBE, MAYBE they would be far more careful (and will not have the cashflow) about spending.
I know of parents who said ‘You have to spend Rs. 6L on your wedding…if you do not have that money BORROW!!
What are we up to? are we mad?
read on….
https://teekhapan.wordpress.com/2016/05/25/why-the-big-fat-indian-wedding-has-become-fatter/
Vidya
Whenever I ask this question – Why spend so much then … most look at me like I have crawled from underneath a rock !!!!
I still think spending more than you can afford is a fallacy ….
Ravi
My spouse and i spend equally around INR 1 lakh each, small wedding ceremony in 2014 – Mumbai. Both of us were earning in USD and continue to earn in USD :). People had a good time!
Only regret is, it wasn’t in a Village house in Konkan, where they serve you on Banana leaves in lap of nature.
MRHDK2012
As Vivek says middle class is following the super rich. Also, many of the super rich have black money where they have no option but to spend it. Common people are following them blindly.
param
to a great extent, bollywood & people’s enchantment with copying everying from there has had a major impact. interestingly, after HAHK, i have witnessed ‘joota chupai’ and associated demands even in traditional tam-bram weddings!!! the other part is increased acceptance of liquor as a basic ingredient to enjoy. again bollywood glamorizing alcohol & people willing to embrace is a big impact. another disturbing trend i see is that when kids are exposed to how much parents have & earn, the sense of entitlement goes up significantly due to short-term thinking. overall, as long as people think ‘log kya kahenge’, this will only explode further.
Arhant
If an HNI does a big fat indian wedding, he would probably spend a year’s income. In that he is smart.
It is when the same needs to be emulated by a middle income family due to peer pressure, exposure, demands, child expectations etc.
and they end up spending 5-10 years of savings that it gets totally out of hand.
On the other hand if an HNI does a simple temple/hall wedding, people will praise his humble and simple nature,
but same if done by a middle income man, people will call him stingy and without taste! Hmph!
From weddings to cars to iphones…What is glamorized and idolized in society is what the 1% people do, and because of that the middle income family is squeezed the most.
cashCowOfNation
@param
Could not agree more! Very well put.
In my friend’s wedding, I knew there will be the idiocy related to sandal – so I carried an extra pair of sandal for my friend; his uncle [who is not well versed with this HAHK inspired ceremony] was distressed thinking how can the groom move about w/o chappal!
The acceptance of alcohol everywhere is just shocking – people cannot think of enjoyment sans alcohol; people who dont drink alcohol are looked upon as weirdos/spoilsport.
The root cause of the problem is trying to answer the question – log kya kahenge?
Abe *##&%^@, log kuch nahi kahenge, they have better things to do!
param
@arihant: well put!
problem is that middle class wants to spend the NRI’s one year income instead of their own 🙂
i liked that part about how society opines about these things… when mark zuckerberg wears grey t-shirts (though he can afford better), he is cool. if common man does it, he is cheap…