“Marriage is a never-ending sleepover with your favorite person in the world.”
Marriage is a phenomenon where two people who have mutual love and respect for each other decide to spend their lives together. However, the thing is slightly different in India as here it brings two families together. Whenever one thinks of the Indian wedding, they picture a big fat Indian wedding with a ton of rituals, loud music, and dance. But will it interest you if you come across a couple that decides to get married in a non-ritualistic affair? As peculiar as it sounds, it is how our beloved Cheten and Megha decided to tie the love knot.
In a super casual meeting that happened 5 years ago at Bengaluru, Chetan and Megha were introduced through some common friends. Despite having careers that were poles apart, it was one thing that brought soon to be lovers together, it was “Social Work”. Megha was working as an Engineer and Chetan had already begun his acting career. Megha, who was involved in the social work wing at her company, had been educating underprivileged children, fundraising for flood relief victims, and spearheading environmentally-conscious initiatives and Chetan had left the US to do grassroots mobilization in Karnataka in 2005, had been uniting progressive forces that included farmers, laborers, women, subaltern, LGBTQ, students, and youth from across the state. When two people are meant to be together, there is nothing that can stop them. The friendship began to grow stronger due to their shared priorities and extending dreams of an impartial, ideal world.
After five years of companionship, the thought of getting married had been pondering upon for about two years now, so, after a lot of consideration and mutual alliance, the duo decided to get married in a small, intimate wedding at Vinoba Bhave Ashram. The duo had been working with the children in the Ashram, most of whom are from marginalized communities. They got their marriage officiated through the Special Marriage Act on 1st February 2017 and decided to have a wedding reception the next day. The wedding vows included three special vows that included, a Personal Vow that symbolized love, respect, and responsibility towards each other, a Social Vow that included responsibility for society and focused on eradicating injustice and discrimination and lastly, a Nature vow that included consideration and compassion for animals, plants, birds and all the nature.
On their wedding reception, great personalities from all walks of life made an appearance. Among the attendees were actor Puneeth Rajkumar and his wife, Ashwini; politicians Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Dinesh Gundu Rao, and H Anjaneya, to name a few. The cultural performances included dance performances by Lambani and the Siddi communities in Karnataka, philosophical and Sufi songs, and songs about the Constitution. In return gifts, the couple presented a copy of the Constitution of India and the aim behind that was to share their ideals of working towards an equal society.
It is absolutely endearing and heart-warming to see a couple who defies all the preconceived notions formed by society and have a unique and different wedding that is environmentally sustainable and works on a broader spectrum of life. Chetan and Megha are truly an inspiration for the upcoming generations. They teach us how love and patience can break all the unjust barriers and spread an insight of equality.
We @VenueMonk hope that their story warmed your heart. We have a lot more coming for you and do let us know your feedback.