Hyderabad City sorely misses 'Band, baja barat'

Hyderabad: Closely following the festivities of Eid is the season of the wedding among Muslims in the city. The lockdown has caused the postponement of several functions and huge gatherings. Otherwise, daily at least 500 weddings would be taking place these days. Those who do not want to put off the wedding are opting for a simple Nikah keeping in view the need to observe physical distancing and a certain absence of friends and relatives.

Wedding halls are wearing deserted looks. During the season, multiple functions including Haldi rasam, Sanchak and the 5 Fridays etc would be a regular feature among the Muslims performing weddings in families. Along with the vibrant festivities of Eid are gone celebrations on a large scale and lavish receptions and procession of grooms in royal vintage cards. Simply put, Hyderabad misses the season's Band Baja Baraat.

According to people, organising functions and gathering people is totally prohibited by the government. As such, people who cannot wait for the lockdown to go are choosing simple weddings in the presence of close family members. "The wedding was fixed on June 5 and all arrangements were made and a guest list of 1000 members was prepared. Suddenly lockdown foiled our plans and we decided to hold the wedding on the same date without postponing it. We cancelled all the booked arrangements and now the Nikah is going to be held only amid elderly family members," said Shakeel Abdul Hafiz, a resident of Old city. However, even this will be most memorable experience of my life despite lockdown, said the bride.

In a survey conducted by Dr Aleem Khan Falaki, president of Socio Reforms Society, more than 9,000 weddings were postponed as a result of lockdown. Only a limited number are going to be held, that too in a quite simple ceremony. Pointing out that there are around 800 function halls in city, he said that in normal times, at least 600 weddings would have been performed daily.

"After Eid, around 20 bookings will be made for weddings alone in a month and till Bakrid nearly 50 bookings used to received but now the bookings were cancelled and we are not taking any bookings," said Baba Khan, owner of Golden Function hall in Old City. Testifying to the reality of times, Mohammed Ayub Ali of Milan printing press in Chatta Bazar says: "Earlier, during the season we would get around 100 wedding invitation card orders, each for 100 to 800 cards. But this year as the lockdown came in a month before Ramzan, we have not received a single order and we are without any work." For some families, though, which find it hard to perform on a grand scale this lockdown is indeed a blessing in disguise, aver some elders.