Sheru and Sweety ki shaadi – This wedding season, a unique union in Gurgaon

Except this ‘wedding’ is slightly peculiar for it features the union of two canines, Sheru and Sweety, which are community street dogs adopted by two neighbouring families of the colony.

Raja, a tea seller, said he and his wife Rani adopted a female dog three years ago and named it ‘Sweety’. “I used to go to the temple where I would feed stray animals and birds and, one day, the dog followed me home,” he said.

Except this ‘wedding’ is slightly peculiar for it features the union of two canines, Sheru and Sweety, which are community street dogs adopted by two neighbouring families of the colony.

Raja said his neighbour, Ram Sevak, had also raised a male street dog named Sheru. “Recently, he said in jest that we should get both our dogs married… we laughed about it initially, but then we thought why not? I spoke to some friends and we got a wedding card edited online and shared it on WhatsApp among guests,” he said.

His wife, Rani, said, “My husband and I do not have any children. We have raised Sweety as our own child. I thought this will be my chance to give our dog away on its wedding.”

The couple said a haldi ceremony was held on Friday and a ladies sangeet and mehndi is scheduled for Saturday night. On Sunday evening, a procession (baraat) will proceed to lane number 3 to their house for the wedding, they said.

“A priest has been summoned and the wedding will take place as per all the rituals… We have distributed gifts –
clothes, utensils – among the family members. Everyone is quite excited… we are poor and do not have a lot of resources, but we have made whatever arrangements we could. A small tent has been put up and we will cook food for a large gathering. We are expecting at least 100 guests,” said Raja.