Sanitisers replace rose water at wedding ceremonies

Warangal: A new wedding etiquette is in the force. Thanks to the unprecedented measures to confront the coronavirus pandemic. The weddings taking place despite being advised to avoid mass gatherings amid the Covid-19 outbreak that threatening to take gigantic proportions have also reshaping social norms.

The rose water which normally used to sprinkle on the invitees at the entry point of a marriage hall is now replaced with sanitiser.

The other day when this newspaper attended a wedding to find whether the guidelines imposed by the government are being followed or not, a couple of young girls were seen inviting the guests spraying sanitiser besides offering roses.

Sprinkling rose water on the guests is a long-time practice in this part of the region. However, the invitees too appeared glad to have a pinch of sanitiser on their hands.

The inviters have also made sanitisers available at the dining hall much to the comfort of those attended the wedding.

The other noticeable change - the elbow bump is replaced handshake. A whole lot of people are seen greeting others with elbow bump (two people nudging each other gently with arms). Some were also seen advising others to do so.

"Keeping distance from the other is now the polite thing to do. The elbow bump looks stylish. People are quickly learning how to maintain social distancing in a polite way. Of course, Namaste, the Indian traditional way of greeting, is even better, but the people are always search for trendy ways," Gunti Anjaneyulu, a businessman of Hanamkonda, told The Hans India.

Meanwhile, the panic buying has resulted in the scarcity of sanitisers in the market. "Since the outbreak of Covid-19, sanitiser has become one of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Sanitisers flying off the shelves very quickly due to the sudden gap between the supply and demand," V Vijay, a medical store owner, said.

On the other hand, the Drugs Control Administration is conducting rides on medical stores to keep a tab on selling of unauthorised sanitisers.

A couple of days ago, the officials seized huge stocks of sanitisers and sent them for laboratory test.