Bhatkal: Around the world, where people are worried about the Corona lockdown and the pace of life has slowed down a bit, it was quite commonly heard, to avoid physical gatherings, many organisations have organized online events, online meetings and Eid Milan programs. But on Friday, a unique wedding ceremony was reported to be held online, wherein a Bhatkal man entered a wedlock by hosting Nikah online, despite both bride and groom remaining hundreds of kilometres apart.
The interesting thing about this unique online wedding ceremony was that even though the bride and groom were thousands of kilometres away from each other, hundreds of relatives living in different parts of the world attended the ceremony online and watched all the rituals of the wedding on their mobile phones or laptops, experiencing as if they were in a wedding hall.
According to sources, Muhammad Adil Kawda s/o Muhammad Saleh Kawda from Bhatkal is a pilot by profession in Maldives, and has been flying aircraft. His education took place in Chennai and Lucknow, followed with it in the Maldives. After his education, he continued to stay there. It is said that about four months ago, Adil had come to Bangalore on vacation with plans to go for Umrah with his parents. As soon as he arrived Bangalore, Coronavirus lockdown stuck all over the world, which left Adil badly get trapped in Bangalore.
Meanwhile, Adil's family arranged his marriage with Aafia Maryam, a resident of Ambur in Tamilnadu, who lives in Chennai. The problem was that the quarantine law was applicable when moving from one state to another amid lockdown. If the groom goes to Chennai, he has to undergo quarantine first. Similarly, if the bride arrives in Bangalore, she has to be quarantined upon her arrival to Bangalore. In view of all these circumstances, Adil decided to get married online and invited Quazi Saheb to his house and arranged the marriage ceremony online with two to four close relatives.
Mr Abdul Rahim Patel, an executive member of Bhatkal Muslim Association, Chennai, said that the paper works in Chennai were completed earlier, while some formalities were completed through video conferencing, however, other remaining official works were done in the presence of Quazi Saheb.
According to Mr Abdul Rahim Patel, the entire process was done online through the "CISCO WebEx" app. On this occasion, relatives and friends from all over the world participated in the wedding ceremony and made the event very spectacular.
It has been reported that the groom Muhammad Adil is the great-grandson of the late Jukaku Shamsuddin and Shamsuddin Basha Patel, the first Minister of Bhatkal.
Unique example for young couples in Bhatkal: More than hundred marriages have stalled in Bhatkal due to Corona lockdown, the weddings are called off for a certain period of time in Bhatkal due to the ongoing pandemic situation. Also, even if a wedding ceremony is called, guests not more than fifty people are allowed to attend the ceremony. In view of all these circumstances, the practice of online marriage should now be popularized, and a wedding ceremony should be held online following the example of the way how Mr Adil Kawda arranged his marriage.
Also due to the Corona lockdown, many Bhatkal youths are stranded in Dubai, Muscat, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other parts of Gulf. In such cases, weddings can be held through various online apps such as Webinar, Zoom and Cisco WebEx, which can also be attended by hundreds of relatives around the world.