Palanpur, Gujarat: Although, inviting widows to an auspicious function is still deemed as a taboo, especially in rural areas, but Mehsana-based businessman, Jitendra Patel, trashed these parochial beliefs by inviting 18,000 widows to his son’s wedding ceremony.
Patel, better known as Jitubhai, invited as many as 18,000 widows from districts of north Gujarat, to bless his younger son Ravi and bride at their wedding on Wednesday. Widows from Sabarkantha, Patan, Banaskantha, Mehsana and Aravalli districts were special guests at the marriage venue at Derol, about 12km from Himmatnagar.
“It was my very heartfelt desire that the couple should be blessed by widows, who are mostly unaccepted by the society. Their presence is considered a bad omen at auspicious events but I wanted to prove this myth wrong and show the society that it is nothing more than a superstition”, said Jitubhai.
