Wedding with a difference: Assamese couple chooses old clothes and books over fancy gift items

The Assamese couple's wedding guests received saplings of Deodar cedar, locally known as Devadaru, as return gifts.

While millennials are busy planning destination weddings with fancy photoshoots, this Assamese couple chose to have a wedding with a difference.

The couple - Bhupen Rabha and Babita Boro - decided not to accept any fancy gifts at their wedding. The ceremony took place at No. 2 Kataligaon, Mushalpur of Assam’s Baksa district on the first of February. They, instead, chose something more sensible.

Also read: Video of Bengali bride goes viral after she breaks stereotypes at her own wedding 

The Assamese couple had a message on their invitation card which read, ‘Service to Mankind’. They asked their guests to bring old clothes and books as gifts. They will be distributing the old clothes to the needy in the community, and the books would be stacked at an open library for the village people.

Speaking about this, Rabha, an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of English at a government college in Mushalpur said,

When we talk about marriage, it is usually about people, gifts and food. I thought of using this moment as an opportunity. Presuming that around 3,000 people from far and near would be attending my wedding, I put out a message in the invitation card. People can take back an example from our village, an awareness message I intended to spread, reports News18.

Deodar in return gifts

In return, the guests were given saplings of Deodar cedar, locally known as Devadaru. The gifts were sponsored by the Assam’s forest department to encourage people towards planting more trees.

Rabha says it is a big step to inspire them for quality education, reports CNBC18. About his wife’s opinion on this initiative, he said,

She has been very supportive. We never thought our plan would be such a huge success. It’s a love-cum-arranged marriage, and I can never thank God enough to get Babita as my life partner.

Not just Rabha, but his village community also helped him to achieve this feat.

Earlier, No. 2 Kataligaon was recognised as the cleanest village in Baksa district. Even today, every road in the village has banners on both sides with messages on environment protection and societal rules. One such banner can also be seen on Rabha’s house.

Talking about the village societies, Rabha said,

We have three societies and the work is divided equally between them to keep the village clean. The society members do all kinds of work – from cleaning cow dung on the roads to keeping a watch on anyone flouting rules. We are tribals, yet we prohibit the sale of liquor. Anyone found consuming liquor has to pay a fine of Rs 10, 000.

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