AP PHOTOS: Diamond trader, playing 'father' to 151 brides,

hosts mass wedding in western India

By Ajit Solanki, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Sun, 6 Dec, 2015

The Canadian Press - Indian brides sit for a group photo before a mass

wedding hosted by a diamond trader in Surat, India,

Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.

151 young couples tied the knot at the mass wedding hosted by Diamond Trader

SURAT, India - With the brides dressed in traditional red and gold embroidered saris

and the grooms wearing long tunics and turbans, 151 young couples tied the knot at

a mass wedding in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Sunday.

The nuptials were hosted by Mahesh Savani, an Indian diamond trader who

has been paying for the weddings of fatherless women in the city of Surat for several years.

"Only someone who has lost her father can understand how much a girl needs

her dad on her wedding day," said Vimla Koringa, 27, as she waited for her

wedding ceremony to begin.

Savani said he first stepped in to play the role of the father in 2008, when one

of his employees died a few days before the weddings of his two daughters.

Every year since then, Savani has paid for the weddings of young

women from poor families who have lost their fathers.

Weddings in India are expensive affairs, with the bride's family traditionally

expected to pay the groom a large dowry of cash and gifts. Hundreds of people, mostly

family members and neighbours of the couple, are hosted at lavish meals

over a number of days, adding to the cost.

Savani said the wedding and gifts for the 151 couples would cost more than 50

million rupees ($750,000), with around 100,000 guests joining in the three days of

festivities that ended Sunday. The sprawling school ground where the mass

wedding was held was decorated with flowers and lights.

"I see this as something sacred, so I am not counting the expense," Savani said.

The businessman, who has made his fortune in diamond trading and real estate,

said he saw himself as a "foster father" to the young women. He gave each of the brides

gold jewelry, clothes, and pots and pans to set up her new home, much like

the dowry given in traditional Indian weddings.

The brides praised Savani's efforts.

"Ever since my father died two years ago, my mother has worried about my wedding and

how to raise money for the expenses," said 23-year-old Meetal Gondalia.

"Savani Papa has eased all her worries."

Let us think what India Government is doing

for this Diamond Trader.