No vroom for this groom in Bihar

Ansari, influenced by state government’s campaign, wants to set an example to cut cost

Setting a new example for society, a man in Bihar arrived for his wedding on a traditional bullock cart in order to cut wedding expenses. The wedding was solemnised at the Puranaganj village in Purnia district of Bihar earlier this week.

Hundreds of villagers were left pleasantly surprised when Makhmur Shakir Ansari rode a tastefully-decorated bullock cart to fetch his bride Tarana Kausar. Ansari is a graduate in mass communication while Tarana is a graduate in Urdu.

The idea was not to get publicity but to convey a strong message to a society in a country where wasteful expenditures during wedding functions are common. But in this case, the entire wedding cost only Rs2,000 (Dh112).

Not only did the groom use a bullock cart, but vegetarian food was arranged for the guests — who numbered 25 in total.

“I wanted to set an example for the society and hence I opted for a bullock cart for my wedding procession to reach the bride’s home,” said Ansari, a school teacher in Delhi who says he is immensely impressed by the Bihar government’s campaign against dowry.

Ansari is not alone. On Tuesday another Muslim villager Maulana Firoz Alam, a resident of Banka district in Bihar, announced he was returning a dowry of Rs200,000 he had taken during the time of his wedding. Alam had married Busara Khatoon, the daughter of a school teacher, in 2016.