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Group Weddings: A Novel Revolution

    (Group Marriage organized by the Visnagar Taluka
               Thakor Community. May 11, 2003)

I have been brought up in close contact with the ‘Thakor’
   community. I have seen and experienced poverty. I know the
meaning of sorrow. Our new generation feels that we can uplift
our society by merely supporting it. The more we support it,
the more it will be uplifted. But is support the only thing that is
needed? Don’t we need to grow as well? It is heartening that
we are all determined to uplift the entire society, and not only
some selected people. This shows that we are on the right path,
the path of strength. No society anywhere in the world has ever
made progress with the help of politicians. Progress is only
achieved through social unity, the pro-active willingness of
society, and making a positive change in society.

     Group weddings are a strong step in the right direction to
keep the society healthy. A newly-wed couple might be getting
around 15 thousand rupees worth of gifts in cash and kind from
different relatives. Let us assume that there are a hundred and
one weddings in different families. We can see how their
relatives rush around in hectic activity for six to eight days. If
we count the bus and train fares of the relatives and the amount
of money which the father of a bride has to spend on a wedding,
it might add up to lakhs of rupees. We can save so much of
money by arranging group weddings. We can save many
hectares of land which is mortgaged for the sake of the wedding,
and we can stop the vicious cycle of paying interest. I am sure
we are all aware of how debt can make the debtor sleepless.
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