Marriages are in full swing in Jammu. Almost everybody going out after sunset on Jammu roads is bound to be stuck in traffic jam. While some are dancing to tunes of loud music; and bursting crackers to celebrate, others are anguished with the noise pollution.

Curiously, at the beginning of this year, an order was issued by  Jammu and Kashmir Government on February 21 restricting “injudicious use of essential commodities during social, government and private functions”.The order limited the number of guests on marriage of daughter, including the baraartis, to 500; and in case of son, the number couldn’t exceed 400. And in small functions, no more than 100 guests could be invited. The order was also aimed at limiting the number of food stalls to 7 and sweets-stalls to 2.

To quote other implications of the order:

          ‘there would be a complete ban on use of big generator set, high pitch sound     amplifiers, loud speakers, decks, profuse lightning, bursting of crackers in social as     well as government functions’

Obviously this order isn’t the first one of its kind as a similar order aimed at banning big fat weddings, was passed by the PDP-Congress government on October 27, 2004 had come into operation on November 5, 2004. However it was stayed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on November 13, 2004.

Even this was not the first one, as a similar order was issued on September 11, 1973!

Now days Marriage functions have become a symbol of wealth exhibition and showiness. In the Indian sub-continent, expenditure on weddings has grown from 25% to 30% in the recent past according to some studies. Extravagance, show-off, lavishness, luxury, and superfluity can be used as synonyms for weddings now.

Read also: Stories by the Dogras of Jammu: Baba Raghu, a ghost or a friend?

They say, marriages are made in heaven! Since demonetisation failed to check these big fat matrimonies, one begins to doubt the on-ground validity of such orders. Till the time they issue a similar order again, satisfy yourself believing that the order came into force on April 1, 2017, APRIL FOOLS’ DAY.