Bengaluru techies miss wedding reception after flight cancellation, join virtually

A couple from Bhubaneswar had to attend their own wedding reception in Hubballi through video conferencing after IndiGo flight delays and cancellations prevented them from travelling. Their parents hosted the event in person while the couple greeted guests virtually.

Hubballi: The venue was all decked up and a delicious spread was ready for the invitees. But Megha Ksheerasagar and Sangam Das could not be present for their own wedding reception, thanks to the national flight disruptions that have sent many passengers across the country into a tizzy.

The newlyweds’ reception was fixed here on December 3, but the couple was forced to attend their grand event only via video conference due to the disruptions in top carrier Indigo’s operations, mainly due to crew woes. Not meaning to miss the important day, the couple appeared on a large screen at the venue through video conferencing from Bhubaneswar, greeted the guests and apologised for not being personally present.

Instead, the bride’s parents graced the occasion at the scheduled reception venue–Gujarat Bhavan, here, on behalf of the couple that had tied the knot on November 23 in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar.

According to the family, the couple, both software engineers, work in Bengaluru. The reception was arranged at the bride’s native place in Hubballi on Wednesday.

To be part of their special day, the couple had booked tickets on the Bhubaneswar-Bengaluru-Hubballi route for December 2. Some relatives had booked tickets on the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai-Hubballi route. However, due to operational disruptions, IndiGo flights were continuously delayed from 9 am on December 2 until early morning on December 3, and were eventually cancelled.

“My daughter’s wedding happened on November 23 and we had organised a reception at our native place in Hubballi for people here. The flight kept getting delayed and at the last moment, at around 4 am, it got cancelled. Now, what could we do after that? We had to come up with a solution. Then I decided to do the reception online. I immediately arranged for a screen and asked my daughter and son-in-law to join the reception online,” the bride’s father, Anil Kumar Ksheerasaga,r told PTI Videos.

He urged the central government to take corrective measures so that public, being the taxpayers, don’t suffer.

“What the problem with IndiGo is, we don’t know. My daughter and son-in-law were supposed to come via an IndiGo flight, but that got cancelled. IndiGo alone can’t be blamed. The government must understand that it is in case of emergencies that people prefer flights. Some measures need to be taken to resolve this issue. When the PM’s flight gets cancelled, he is taken by helicopter. Why is the same not done for us, the common people? We also have emergencies, don’t we? The government must think of this, and if they ignore public woes, they should remember that we are also VIPs because we pay tax.”

Relatives had come for the reception from across the country–Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bagalkote, Davangere and Belagavi.

“I didn’t know what to do as relatives and guests had come from so many places. I was stressed, but then I quickly decided to do it online,” Ksheerasagar said.

As the couple could not travel to Hubballi, the bride’s parents sat in place of the newlyweds at the reception venue and conducted the rituals, while the bride and groom, dressed up in Bhubaneswar, attended their grand reception online.