With 2018 being the year of celebrity marriages, every citizen of India was able to witness the grandeur of a traditional Hindu wedding. Though it is true that India is probably the country with the largest available diversity across regions, what remains common is the core. Though the rituals and customs that are followed during a marriage may be different for weddings from North India, the west and the southern regions, they all have similarity, each of them involves a minimum aspect of grandeur in its own way. But, with grandeur comes the burden of exorbitant expenses and stress of its own kind. Especially, in today’s times, when time has become a precious scarce commodity, it becomes difficult for people to squeeze out time from their packed schedules for having month long ceremonies. Instead, the easier option seems to be that of court marriage.
There can be three primary reasons for any couple to choose court marriage over the traditional lengthy forms of marriage:
- By Choice/free will
- Financial reasons/Circumstantial causes
- Miscellaneous
Court Marriage as a Matter of Choice
There are many couples in the country who choose to get married in the court by choice. There can be several reasons for why they choose to do so. First and foremost, could be a willingness to give back to society. A lot of couple who belong to the privileged sections of the society, might choose to donate for a charitable cause the money that could have been spent on their wedding ceremonies. Such a noble gesture is often self-driven and the returns received are a huge sense of satisfaction. People who believe in the joy of giving often suffer from a sense of discomfort when spending on reasons they believe are unnecessary and frivolous. In turn, they believe in sharing what they have with the world and in such manner intend to contribute in their own way toward reducing the ocean of sorrows present in this world.
Another reason why people might choose to opt for Court marriage is because of personal priorities. Not everyone can appreciate the loudness of a typical Indian wedding. Instead, they might prefer a low-key affair with just the presence of close loved ones instead of inviting the entire family including all the distant relatives and such like.
In fact, contrary to trend of current celebrity marriages, many of the yesteryear couples chose to get married in a court room. The probable reason for this might be avoid the constant limelight and spotlight which surrounds them at all points of time in their life. Since marriage involves their private life, it is good idea to keep their private affairs away from the public eye. Some of such couples include Sridevi and Boney Kapoor, Amir Khan and Reena Dutta etc.
Financial Compulsions/Circumstantial Reasons
The second reason why people might be forced to do a court marriage could be financial. The expression, “Big Fat Indian Wedding” appropriately describes the scenario. Traditional ceremonies as per Hindu customs involve expenditure of immense magnitude. The various avenues of expenses could range from venue, catering, decoration, dresses, jewelry, entertainment facilities such a band, DJ, anchors to host the event, travel and accommodation arrangements for the arriving guests, invitation cards, make-up facility for the guests, shagun and other non-monetary gifts to be given to close as well as distant relatives, dakshina to be given to the priest who carries out the ceremony, raw materials for the pooja, and other miscellaneous expenses. This can be a lot for a country like where the per capita income is not that impressive. Since the economic disparity between the various classes is so wide in India, it might not always be within the affordability of a huge number of people to arrange for such a grand affair. A huge percentage of the population still struggles to make both ends meet. Therefore, even the idea of a full-fledged traditional wedding might seem too far-fetched to them.
The ability to render warm hospitality is a luxury not everyone can afford. Therefore, the better option in such cases can be simple court marriage. The affair is intimate with just the immediate family members of both sides present as witnesses in front of the local marriage registrar and of course, the couple.
Since each of us are subject to the life circumstances that surround us, this is great way to prevent huge expenditure.
Miscellaneous
Also, with the younger generation being more and more unconventional in its means and methods, love marriages are clearly on the rise as opposed to arranged marriages. Consequentially, an increasing number of marriages tend to be of inter-caste and inter-religious nature. More often than not, families and parents of the couple do not support such modern trends. As a result, the couple is left with no other option but to manage their marriage on their own. For the lack of sufficient resources at such a stage in life, the couple may be inclined to opt for a court marriage.
There could be many other reasons why a couple chooses to get married in a court. Though it is true that each couple chooses to get married as per its own personal choice, one cannot negate the fact that court marriages are clearly on the rise, especially in the year 2019.
