A note on the issue: Little joys or going extra

For many Indians who want to signal their arrival, the multi-event, multi-location, multi-cuisine wedding is just the vehicle

Published20 Jul 2024, 07:00 AM IST

This is an issue of contrasts—Neha Sinha advocates the simple joys of observing nature in the monsoon, Radhika Iyengar writes about the beautiful, crumbling bird-feeders of Ahmedabad (tiny creations that are testament to an older way of life), Deepti Patwardhan reports on the challenges faced by Indian breakers, and then we dive headfirst into the elaborate indulgence that is the Indian millionaire wedding.

Also read: Lavish weddings are not enough. Indians want bespoke celebrations

For the past few months, social media feeds and news reports were filled with minuscule details of a billionaire wedding, and while this is a peculiar kind of spectacle, India is no stranger to extravagant celebrations. For many Indians who want to signal their arrival, the multi-event, multi-location, multi-cuisine wedding is just the vehicle.

Pooja Singh meets couples who want a perfect day that will be talked about for years to come and spend months in service of creating it. Wedding planners explain the lengths to which they go to make each wedding unique, even as they marvel at the new demands being made of them. Jane Austen may have decided a few centuries ago that happiness in marriage is a matter of chance but for these couples and their families, there is no such thing as chance. Everything is engineered to perfection, customised to tiniest detail, and unique to the couple.

In Business Lounge, we meet Banijay Asia and EndemolShine India’s Deepak Dhar, India’s reality showman, who has created popular shows such as Bigg Boss and adapted popular international shows such as MasterChef and The Night Manager. He talks about his unending curiosity, which helps him turn simple, almost everyday though sometimes voyeuristic, concepts into shows that become household habits. To return to little joys, we take a look back the now 60-year-old Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night, which essentially is one-and-a-half-hours of manic, musical energy, and have other ideas to help you spend your weekend whether you’re looking for simple pleasures or flamboyant fun.

Write to the editor at shalini.umachandran@htlive.com

@shalinimb

A note on the issue: Little joys or going extra

For many Indians who want to signal their arrival, the multi-event, multi-location, multi-cuisine wedding is just the vehicle

Also read: Lavish weddings are not enough. Indians want bespoke celebrations

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