MANGALURU: Orvin Menezes and Lavina D’Souza, who both work in Kuwait, had planned to walk down the aisle in Mangaluru in September. But then, the pandemic struck and their plans were turned topsy-turvy. The couple was forced to marry in Kuwait itself.
“With both our parents and close relatives working here, we decided to say ‘I do’ in Kuwait Church,” the couple said. “We had wished to marry in our hometown Mangaluru and hoped relatives and friend would be there to witness our exchange of vows, but the pandemic played spoilsport.”
Like Orvin and Lavina, several couples working in the Middle East, who had planned to marry or are planning to wed in Mangaluru, are tying the knot in the countries where they work after fulfilling legal requirements.
With employers only sanctioning short leave which includes a quarantine period, job uncertainty due to the pandemic and other factors, couples from the coastal districts are being robbed of the warmth and affection of family and friends which are generally associated with nuptials.
Another couple working in UAE had fixed their
wedding for the last week of December in Mangaluru. But they got married recently in the UAE because of job uncertainty. “There is a high chance of [either of] us losing jobs in case we take leave to return home and get married,” the couple said.
The plight of Ramesh (name changed), who was working in Dubai and had returned to India before the
March lockdown, was even more piteous. “I returned home for my wedding in April, but it wasn’t possible then due to the lockdown. Finally, I got married in October and around the same time, I lost my job in Dubai,” Ramesh said.
Usually, those working in the Middle East take leave for a month. Currently, anyone flying in from abroad has to stay a minimum 15 days in quarantine in India. Again, the same formality has to be followed while returning. For countries like Kuwait, one cannot directly fly to the country and instead must fulfil quarantine requirement in another country like UAE.