When Rotary solemnised a marriage

Hardly a week left for her marriage, Ritukumari’s dreams were shattered when a fire accident caused by the bursting of a gas cylinder brought down her modest little home at Pavanputra colony in Vaishali Nagar, a suburb of Jaipur. Everything in her house, including the wedding finery and the money saved for the wedding, was reduced to a handful of ashes in minutes.

However, thanks to the efforts of the Rotarians of RC Jaipur Midtown, D 3052, solace came for Ritu and her sister Sonia. Both of them got married at the same mandap, in the presence of 1,200 guests, including the who’s who of the city such as Rajasthan Social Justice Minister Arun Chaturvedi, Jaipur City Mayor Ashok Lahoty and Rajasthan Lokayukta S S Kothari.

Sitting beside her husband, Ritu recalls, “My marriage was fixed for April 6, but we lost everything in the fire. My father had died few years ago and my mother is a daily wage worker. Our lives came to a full stop. But Rotary helped us start it all over again. We had a grand wedding and also got lots of gifts.”

Incoming President Arun ­Palawat elaborates, “As soon as the news appeared in the local newspapers, few of our club members visited the family and assured all our help to conduct the marriage without any delay.” The Rotarians also helped find a suitable groom for Ritu’s sister Sonia when the family said they’d like to conduct their wedding together. The Rotarians formed a WhatsApp group which helped to collect sarees, gold and silver jewellery, utensils, groceries and other assorted things for the wedding.

For the next six days, “we all stayed in the colony like a family and ensured everything was in place,” says Palawat, who also performed the ­kanyadan for Ritu, “like a proud father”. The Rotarians also gifted household essentials such as gas stove, bed, almirah, LED TV, refrigerator, air cooler and washing machine to both the brides.

D 3052 PDG Anil Agarwal says, “This was a perfect example of Rotary in service. Those six days were the golden days of my life. None of us felt tired, thirsty or hungry. We were all focused to make their wedding day a memorable one. And the brightness on their faces paid us back.”