The Rs. 250 crore wedding?

Here’s the baap of all big fat Indian weddings. A chopper as a gift for the groom, tilak-shagun for the groom’s family worth Rs. 21 crore, and film stars set to be in attendance at functions — the Capital witnessed the most lavish display of wealth as Congress leader Kanwar Singh Tanwar’s 26-year-old son Lalit tied the knot with former independent MLA Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria’s 26-year-old daughter Yogita, on the outskirts of the city last night.

The wedding extravaganza, comprising four functions, is tipped to be costing the two families a staggering Rs. 250 crore. The main ceremony took place at Haryana’s Jaunpur village and was attended by 15,000 people, including all the villagers, who were reportedly given a shagun of Rs. 11,000 each. Tanwar’s elder son, Mihir, says, “We have sent 1000 special invites to the VIP guests for the reception. The guests include Bollywood stars. Shah Rukh Khan is also coming.”

At the lagan ceremony held last week at Tanwar’s farmhouse in Asola in the Fatehpur Beri, all the 2000 guests were gifted silver biscuits weighing 30gms, a safari suit each and Rs. 2100 in cash. “The groom’s tika was done with Rs. 2.5 crore, and the families’ tika was done with Rs. 1 crore for 18 other members,” said a guest, wishing anonymity.

For a community reception on Thursday, Tanwar has invited the entire Gujjar community for a musical night which may see performances by singer Gurdas Mann and actor Neha Dhupia.

Sunday evening will see a VIP reception at The Ashok Hotel in which political bigwigs, including the Prime Minister, have been invited. The groom’s father, while confirming some details, sounded cautious. “Haan, helicopter toh gift mein mila hai. Aap 3rd kodekh sakte hain. Baaki, shaadi aur reception dono bahut normal hain (yes, we’ve got a chopper. But there’s nothing to hype. Both the marriage and reception are very normal),” he said.

Government plans to play police
The Government of India plans to introduce a bill before parliament, limiting the amount of food dished out to guests at lavish weddings that account for nearly 15% of India’s total food-grain waste. “We believe we can preserve foodgrains for the poor and needy of this country by restricting its use at such extravagant and luxurious social functions,” Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas said last week.

Rs. 250 crore...
Is more than the annual GDP of Lakshadweep (Rs. 191 cr)
Can buy 6,250 Alto cars, two for each family in the entire Jaunpur village to which the bride belongs
Is equal to the total worth of India’s online advertising market
Is the combined budget of all Kannada movies (133) made in 2010