An exceptional nature-friendly wedding: An Assamese couple who broke the stereotypes

Guwahati: An ordinary Assamese wedding but celebrated in the most extraordinary manner as the bride and groom made it sure that the wedding remains in the heart and always be remembered by the guests who visited it.

It is not the rituals, not the food but the exchange of wedding gifts that marked as one remarkable wedding as the bride-groom made sure that no one brings expensive gifts for them. Rather, the bride and groom requested the invited guests to bring a bundle of old clothes and gift it to them which they will in return use for social service. As a return gift to the visitors, Bhupen Rabha (the groom) and Bobeeta Boro (the bride) gave a sapling each and this is indeed, a remarkable step towards building a green environment.

The love and dutifulness the newlywed couple has shown towards the society and nature are commendable and worth following for every other person living in the society.

Bhupen Rabha and Bobeeta Boro tied the knot on January 30 and threw their wedding reception party on February 1 which was visited by more than 6,000 guests. Mr. Rabha hails from Kataligaon (Rabhasupa), a village in western Assam’s Baksa district.

It is especially for their wedding reception, that the couple arranged about 350 of saplings which they prepared to give as a return gift in exchange of every bundle of old clothes that they receive from the guests.

At this point, it has also to be mentioned here that the village that Mr. Rabha belongs to, the No. 2 Kataligaon village in Baksa district is the officially cleanest village in the district that locates at a distance of about 90 km in the west of Guwahati.

The 34-year-old groom Mr. Rabha said, “We had, before the marriage, met village elders and discussed the idea of using the reception party as a platform for encouraging people to donate clothes for the poor as well as to take a step towards greening our surroundings. The villagers liked the idea.”

By profession, the groom is an English teacher at a college and also acts in regional films.

Sachin Das, the Batabari Range Officer of Baska Forest Division said, “I gave them 350 saplings of local species of trees, such as nageshwar (Indian rose chestnut), krishnachura (flame tree), and bokul (Spanish cherry).”

When after giving off the 350 saplings to the guests, some others could not be provided with it, the couple also kept a record of such guests so that they can give them the trees later.

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