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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Amrit Dhillon in Delhi

‘It’s a total disaster’: Omicron lays waste to India’s huge wedding season

India Omicron Abhishek Mishra
A couple await their marriage ceremony before India’s Omicron surge that has put paid to mass attendance on the big day.
A couple await their marriage ceremony before India’s Omicron surge that has put paid to mass attendance on the big day. Photograph: Pradeep Gaur/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Until 28 December, Heena Vashisht was a happy bride-to-be. The 28-year-old was pleased her family had put in place early all the arrangements for her wedding on 10 February, right down to the last candle. But her plans have been shredded by India’s Omicron surge. The nuptials can go ahead in New Delhi as planned, but only if she cuts her guest list down from 650 to 20.

“My own immediate family is 80. How can I reduce the guests to 20? The tension in my family is unbearable right now. No one knows what to do and my mother’s blood pressure has shot up with all the tension,” says Vashisht.

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