With the Covid-19 refusing to fade away, weddings in the Valley have become a small affair while adopting new social-distancing norms to prevent the virus from spreading.
On Wednesday, a picture of a wedding with all people accompanying the groom given a separate sanitizer on a plate with food went viral on social media.
“The dates of the weddings were fixed months before,” says Shazia Rafiq, whose wedding took place last week.
“So, people with permission from authorities are going ahead with it. My wedding was scheduled a week ago and both the families took all the safety measures and did not invite more than 50 people, which consisted of close family and friends,” said the 29-year-old resident of Natipora locality in Srinagar.
The Kashmiri weddings, whether big or small, are incomplete without Wazwan, which consists of multiple mutton recipes. The chefs known as wazas in Kashmiri are serving the guests wearing PPE kits and adopting the safety measures not to get in close contact with people. The guests are also being served in separate platters instead of one big plate that is usually shared by four people.
With markets also shut due to the lockdown, the wedding season has become a simple and plain affair in Kashmir.
“The tradition this time is being followed with precautions,” said Illyas Ahmad, 35, whose sister will get married next week.
