Now, marriages are made on the streets

CHENNAI: In order to take self respect marriages — an initiative of rationalist leader and social reformer EV Ramasamy Periyar — to the slums of the city, the Revolutionary Students Youth Front organised a self respect marriage at Dr Santosh Nagar in Egmore on Sunday.The marriage, which had all the elements of simplicity, was solemnised 30 minutes past seven on Sunday evening, in an attempt to break the myth that marriage should not be held during inauspicious times like Rahu Kalam and Emma Kandam.With no priest to chant mantras, no live orchestra to entertain the invitees and no sumptuous spread of delicious meal for the invitees, the marriage was concluded with the bridegroom Prem Kumar exchanging garland with the bride Nandhini. The 26-year-old groom and the bride, who is in her early 20s, took an oath to lead a better life.Later, addressing the gathering, Prem Kumar, an employee of a courier service, said, “The so-called marriages organised in a grand manner causes inconvenience to both the couple and their parents.I have seen both rich marriages and self respect marriages and chose the latter.” Interestingly, the couple were lovers belonging to two different castes, residing in opposite tenements of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board at Dr Santosh Nagar.Though the parents of the groom did not have a problem with the two getting married, Nandhini’s parents opposed it owing to caste barriers. The marriage happen right in front of the tenement even as the bride’s parent refused to attend the marriage.However, a section of people gifted the newly married couple with books.