Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], Mar 26 : Realising the gravity of the coronavirus situation in the country and heeding the government's advice to avoid social gatherings to stem the coronavirus spread, two families in Raipur took a bold decision to cancel the wedding of their children at the last moment, even at a considerable financial cost to them.
Sheetal Bansal, Deputy Collector and CEO of Janpad Panchayat, Abhanpur, was to marry Ayush, IFS, on March 26 but decided to postpone the ceremony in the wake of the coronavirus scare.
"As soon as we read about the rapidly spreading infection and saw the rising number of cases, we felt that we should postpone the wedding date. The decision was very important for the safety of our family members, and also in line with the instructions of the government," Sheetal told .
Being the CEO of Janpad Panchayat, the to-be bride said, "We are also trying to create awareness in the rural areas regarding the health crisis."
"I have never seen something like this being strictly followed in so many years. The infection is spreading really fast. Therefore, understanding the gravity of the situation was really important for us. We should follow the instructions of the government seriously," she added.
Sheetal said that her family had to face a little problem in postponing the date of the marriage as everything had been finalized, including the venue, catering, guest houses, mandap and other requirements.
"It was very difficult. For two-three days, we pondered upon what to do. Everything was ready. The wedding cards were distributed one month back. The relatives' tickets were booked and today they were scheduled to come, some of them have already arrived. But then our two families met and decided to postpone the wedding," she stated further.
Meanwhile, Trilok Bansal, the brother of the to-be bride, who is an IPS officer, said that the decision to postpone the marriage was the need of the hour.
"We had to cancel everything that was already finalized including the travel tickets of the guests, venue and others. We are also trying to stay at home and motivate people to work from home. My message is that this disease is not visible and when it starts spreading, it spreads very fast, so it is very important to be afraid of it. There are many developed countries where the healthcare infrastructure is very good. But they too have failed to control this disease outbreak and are still struggling with it. So make yourself safe as well as the whole country," he told .
The family is of the view that the safety of people is most important. They will face huge losses and other problems but it is okay since taking precautions is more important.
"Marriage is a one time occasion. So we will re-orgse the ceremony once again when times are favourable for all family members to gather and bless the couple. Till then we have no hurry," Trilok said.
The total tally of COVID-19 related cases in Chhattisgarh has so far reached three.
( With inputs from ANI )