From the archive record
Weddings in Covid times have taken on a sober even sombre air to them. This sangeet ceremony thus takes place in a rather muted and modestly loud and boisterous fashion, in Uttar Pradesh. How the big fat Hindu wedding has changed in the times of Covid. Not only are the numbers of family and guests down, but the extra worry about the virus, the occasional mask and the additional required precautions (whether practiced or not!) all add to the cauldron of concern. This wedding takes place at a Meerut home in Uttar Pradesh. Everyone is bedecked in their wedding finery, after a full year of lock-down, so this is an occasion for revelry and pomp, even if caution is thrown to the winds for a day. After all, family would not transmit Covid to each other, surely...!? The Mehdni / Mehendi ritual is