When Seikh Tipu Sultan and nine close relatives arrived from Bengaluru in Odisha’s Kendrapara town on March 18, the wedding party had a simple plan. Have the wedding solemnised on March 30 and return home by train with the bride on April 4.
However, the back-to-back national lockdowns to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, has now forced Mr. Sultan and his family to accept the extended hospitality of the bride’s father and her extended relatives.
A worker in a granite polishing unit in Bengaluru, Mr. Sultan has found himself a guest of his father-in-law Seikh Abdul Okil, and Mr. Okil’s relatives on a rotation basis, since the Nikah on March 30.
“It has been more than two months since we are stranded in my wife’s house,” said Mr. Sultan by telephone. “Though society does not approve staying such a long period in father-in-law’s house, we do not have any option. Our financial condition also doesn’t allow hiring a vehicle to Bengaluru. We hope for resumption of normal train services so that we can return,” he added.
“We are not an affluent family to afford hosting nine persons on daily basis,” Mr. Okil explained. “Some of my relatives came forward to share the burden and continue to provide food to our [new] relatives,” he added.
