Shahjahanpur (UP), Oct 26: A man who grew up without a sister found a way to fill that void by becoming a “brother” to women from underprivileged sections, helping 101 couples begin their married lives in a mass wedding ceremony that brought Hindu and Muslim families together in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur.
The ceremony, held at Khirni Bagh on Sunday, saw 93 Hindu couples marry according to Vedic rituals and eight Muslim couples solemnise their unions through nikah conducted by religious clerics. The brides were dressed up at beauty parlours, while the couples were brought to the venue in 101 cars, as families celebrated the weddings in a shared, festive atmosphere.
For 24-year-old Muskan’s family, the event meant a wedding without the crushing burden of debt. Her brother Shahid said their father drives a rickshaw and their mother sells paan and supari, and the family struggles to arrange even two meals a day. Borrowing money for sister’s marriage would have been difficult.
“In such circumstances, our sister’s wedding is being celebrated with great pomp at this ceremony. It is by the grace of Allah,” Shahid said.
Another couple, Pooja, a differently abled woman from Jamuka village, and her groom Ramniwas, also began their new life amid difficult circumstances. Both have disabilities affecting their legs, and neither has agricultural land nor a stable source of income. Their smiles after the wedding reflected the significance of the occasion for the couple.
Behind the initiative is Vinay Agarwal, a namkeen businessman who said the absence of a sister in his own life inspired him to help daughters from financially struggling families get married.
Agarwal told PTI that he began helping with weddings in 2018, initially turning up at ceremonies uninvited to offer assistance.
On his mother Saroj Agarwal’s advice, he later gave the effort a more organised form. In 2023, he arranged weddings for 11 girls, followed by 21 the next year and 51 thereafter. This year, the number reached 101.
He said the initiative would continue and that the number of brides would not decline.
Agarwal said his aim was not merely to arrange wedding rituals but also to help couples establish their households. Each newly married couple received a television, refrigerator, washing machine, bed, cupboard and other daily-use items.
His wife Shweta, brother Kunal, sister-in-law Neha and mother Saroj helped organise the ceremony, with the family involved in arrangements and rituals.
Agarwal said the event is held around Ram Navami to mark the birth anniversary of his late father, Ashok Agarwal. Around 200 applications were received this year, and 101 brides were selected after a three-stage verification process. Applications from women marrying for a second time and those from financially well-off families were rejected, he said.
He added that he did not accept financial contributions from others for the initiative. When people offered to help, he asked them to organise weddings for needy girls themselves, saying he would assist if required.
Shahjahanpur-based doctor and social worker Satya Prakash Mishra said it was a matter of pride for the city that 101 couples had benefited from the initiative.
He said genuine social service should be undertaken without discrimination based on caste, religion or financial status, and urged others to come forward to help those in need.
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