Wedding bells ring soundless
Until normalcy returns, the community centres across the capital are left to do nothing else than count their losses
Shammi and Taif were going to get married on a weekday on 22 July. Both trained in medical studies, the union was an arranged one by the two families. Relatives had arrived from the United States.
But all of their wedding plans had to be abruptly cancelled. And given how the state of the country's affairs remains shrouded in uncertainty, no one knows when to expect return of normalcy.
Since the bride and groom's relatives were already present and that it will be difficult for everyone to wait for an indefinite period, both families decided to have a small get together at Shammi's house.
A Qazi was called and the bride and groom were married on Friday (19 July).
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Shammi and Taif's case is of course not a solitary one against the backdrop of nationwide curfew and Internet blackout. Cancellations rung through wedding programmes and plans of family gatherings – and the brunt is felt by the community centres and catering companies. They are incurring losses; especially due to the refunds they are making of their clients' advance payments.
Meanwhile, these "clients" remain in darkness. They simply can't tell when they would be able to celebrate the auspicious union of their loved ones.
On Monday this week, Jahangir Alam stood in front of the closed doors of Malibagh Community Centre, with a quotation from another community hall. He has been looking for a wedding venue to book for his daughter's wedding on 16 August.
"This is the second hall today but I don't see anyone around. I have been to White Hall and Ananda Bhaban. No one is taking reservations right now. If I do not manage to book a hall now, I might have to postpone the wedding," Jahangir said.
Rony Das said the same, he was roaming around the city for a community hall to book for his sister's wedding on 11 August. "The halls are not even taking advance payment as they are not sure of the country's condition. Now postponing a wedding is a huge thing for middle class families. I don't know what I would do".
Community halls and catering companies count losses
In the last five days, Blue Moon restaurant had to postpone three wedding events. "No one cancelled their programmes, nor did they take back the advance they paid. But we were done with the grocery shopping for the event," Nil Ratan Halder, the manager of Blue Moon said.
Rafiul Islam, a resident of the capital's Goran area, had his sister Jakia Sultana's reception planned at Blue Moon on 20 July, but they had to cancel the event that would have hosted 110 guests.
"Many of our relatives are coming from Cumilla, we had invited some of the prominent personalities as well. And cancelling the event like this was a bit embarrassing for us. But what can we do? We are just waiting for the situation to get better now," Rafi added.
Jahid Hossain Maruf, manager of Premier Catering said they had to cancel catering orders of wedding events on 19, 20 and 22 July. "On 26th, we are supposed to cater for a Hindu wedding, but now it seems impossible. Until the situation improves, we cannot say anything about it", Maruf said.
About half a dozen community centres we visited and several families we interviewed are in the dark with limited communication via phone calls at the moment.
Until normalcy returns, the community centres are left to do nothing else than count their losses.
