Indian weddings are famous for lavish gifts, whether in cash, kind or gold. And Ram Charan is the new lucky groom to have got an Aston Martin V8 Vantage sports car worth 2.55 crore as a wedding gift from his father in-law.
The Tollywood’s superstar Chiranjeevi’s son married the Apollo heiress Upasana Kamineni in a super-grand ceremony on June 14, 2012. On June 15th, a mega reception lunch was hosted for the fans of Chiranjeevi, which was attended by approximately 6,000 people. This was indeed the first time that a celebrity reception was organized at such grand scale. If we leave out the free-food-for-6000-people part, then it was all a sheer misuse of valuable resources, done in the name of pomp and show.
Last year, the 250 crore wedding of Gujjar leader Lalit Tanwar and Yogita Jaunpuria created waves nationally as well as internationally. The groom was reportedly gifted a helicopter as wedding gift and 25 crores cash as shagun. In comparison, Ram Charan Teja did indeed have to do with a modest wedding gift.
We were a little surprised over the lavishness attached with this recent wedding. We actually hoped that Aamir Khan’s efforts on Satyamev Jayate against the evils of dowry system and Big Fat Indian weddings will inspire others to tone down their wedding expenses. Guess, it’s going to be a very long road home.
In India, especially in metros, there are instances where bungalows are bought for the groom as wedding gift by his in-laws. Regular shagan amount starts from 21,000 and can go up to any limit. This is often coupled with a snazzy watch and pure gold chain, bracelet etc. and people don’t even bat an eye when such things are reported or talked about.
Do you think that dowry in India takes multiple forms and giving expensive gifts to the groom in the name of shagan is one of them? Let us know your views in the comments section.
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