Pune: The coronavirus pandemic has cast a spell on big-fat Indian weddings as they now have become a small and intimate affair.
People associated with the wedding industry are currently struggling to stay in business. While some are out of business, others have been forced to shift into other lines of work.
A wedding music band, recognised as Durgamata Band in Pune, was actively providing its services in various marriages until the advent of the pandemic. Now their musical instruments lie in heap in one corner in their storehouse, while the music-band vehicle has gone through a forced makeover.
The owners, Durgesh Bhanudas Khade and Bhimrao Sitaram Pawar are now selling vegetable in their vehicle which was previously seen during the wedding processions.
"We were in the wedding business for the last 25 years but after the coronavirus-induced lockdown we had no clients," said Durgesh.
The duo had purchased a new music-band vehicle for this year's wedding season which instead got converted into a mobile vegetable shop.
As debts are piling up and the business is not yielding profits, these business partners have no viable source for repaying the debts.
"Our business has come to a standstill and we could not even pay our employees. To keep our business afloat we shifted to the job of selling vegetables," stated Bhimrao.
The distressing state of these businessmen, where they are still waiting for the administration's financial assistance, is one of many stories of those who lost their livelihood as the economy came tumbling down after the pandemic.
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