At stake is the livelihood of millions of gig workers who provide
wedding-related services - jewellers, designers, tailors, caterers, pavilion
and tent providers and so on.
Sindoori and
Krishna flew from New York to Chennai for their big fat wedding at their
hometown on March 30. Nearly 1,200 guests were invited and one of the largest
venues in Chennai was booked. But Covid-19
forced them to postpone the celebrations.
Thousands of other
families across India took similar decisions as social distancing rules kicked
in and state governments imposed restrictions on gatherings at weddings to no
more than 10 people. But the search for alternative auspicious wedding dates is
the least of the problems afflicting an industry that KPMG
estimates is worth around $50 billion a year.
At stake is the livelihood
of millions of gig workers who provide wedding-related services — jewellers,
designers, tailors, caterers, pavilion and tent providers and so on. This
industry is highly fragmented, but employs a sizeable chunk of the gig workers.
Rough industry
estimate suggests that India hosts 10-12 million weddings every year. Now
cancellations are running into the thousands. Kanika Subbiah, founder, Wedding
Wishlist, said her company was organising nearly 30 weddings in November. In
March, the number slid to four and in April just one.
“The industry is
feeling the pinch. Weddings have just stopped. Most people have postponed their
plans and the few, who are going ahead, have made it a smaller event. The
industry is seeing a big blip in terms of revenue. Thankfully, the weddings are
only getting postponed, not cancelled,” she said.
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