The season of festivity has arrived. Usually, during the winter, various family and social festivals take place in the country. December and January are considered the peak season of these festivals. A wedding ceremony is probably the biggest social occasion, followed by picnics, reunions and other events. Although a wedding ceremony takes place almost round the year, its frequency goes up in winter due to the advantage of weather conditions. There is no rainfall and no sweating from the hot summer. Schools remain closed or New Year's classes start tentatively. Relatives and friends from abroad also come to visit their near and dear ones. All these enhance a favourable ambience for social or family gatherings.
A wedding ceremony provides an excellent opportunity to reunite near and far-off family members and friends and welcome new relatives. People arrange ceremonies according to their social and financial ability. That's why some wedding ceremonies become a matter of extensive opulence of wealth and resources while some ceremonial events are modest. The harsh fact is that wedding ceremonies today also reflect the socioeconomic disparity in the country.
Gifts are an essential part of the wedding reception, which has positive and negative social dimensions. It symbolises blessings and best wishes to a newly married couple. These gifts are also given to the couple so the start to their new life can become easier. For example, a home appliance as a gift is a common practice. At the same time, it is a burden on many as no one wants to attend a wedding party without a good gift. Moreover, those who attend the ceremonies usually bring gifts according to their financial ability and socio-economic status. So, only some can give a costly gift as expected by their hosts.
In fact, many people now consider the accumulated value of gifts as a return on investment in the wedding reception. After the end of the event, they calculate the spending on the reception against the estimated value of gifts received. The small the difference, the happy the hosts are. Similarly, some guests also try to estimate the monetary value of food against their gift and transport costs.
No matter how weird this sounds, it is a fast-growing social trend. Some hosts also expect cash or cash equivalent gift cheques or vouchers instead of various things. Book is no longer preferred as a wedding gift. The table set to receive and entry gift clearly shows that guests with tiny gifts are not welcome. This is also an indirect insult to the low-income relatives and friends who are invited. In some cases, the hosts invite them indifferently, giving a message that they are not welcome at the event mainly due to their inability to bring expensive gifts.
Thus the culture of wedding gifts has become an unpleasant social phenomenon in this country. It is also rare that invitation cards are scribed with 'no gift, blessings only.'
