Thursday, February 20, 2014

A Chess themed Indian Wedding!

Sagar Shah elo 2304 (2 IM norms) and Amruta Mokal elo 2041 (4 IWM norms) 

It is said that Marriages are made in heaven but are celebrated on Earth!
When I met Amruta Mokal back in 2008, I was not sure that she was the girl that I wanted to marry! But over time, the attraction developed into liking and liking developed into love! And after 5 and a half years, on 5th of february 2014, we both tied the knot!
The wedding was held in the city of Pune which is the hometown of the bride!

The Wedding Invitation cards were designed by Amruta keeping the overall chess theme in mind!

This article is based on specifically one day of my life i.e the 5th of February which is the most special to me! To know more about how our relationship developed, you can read the article on my love story. But right now lets focus on the wedding!

Let me first put things into perspective. Both Me and Amruta wanted a different sort of wedding! Indian weddings are not only known for their pompous nature but also for their excruciatingly long ceremonies and rituals. We wanted to break the monotony and what better way than to celebrate the very reason of us coming together i.e the game of CHESS!

We had already shown our chessic innovation in July 2013 when Amruta specifically designed our engagement rings in the shape of the chess King and Queen!

But this time it was bigger! There were going to be nearly 500 people who would attend the wedding. In order to give tribute to the game of chess, we decided to decorate the stage with the Chess Pieces!

You can see the King and the Queen in the Center with the Bishop knight Rook and Pawn besides it.
The S near the King stands for the name of the groom i.e Sagar and the A near the Queen stands for the name of the bride Amruta!


Usually the wedding dresses of the Bridegroom and Bride are quite elaborate in an Indian wedding! So, Lets have a look at how the protagonists dressed up for the event!


The Bridegroom i.e me, came well prepared for this game! The turban on the head is usually worn by kings and hence gives a royal look to the groom. The Shirt which I have worn is known as a Sherwani. Green in Colour, its quite intricately woven! You can also see a red scarf like thing around my neck. It is called a Dupatta and makes the dress aesthetically pleasing.
In place of trousers, I am wearing a dhoti! In the earlier days tying a dhoti was an art in itself, nowadays you can find readymade dhotis tailormade for amateurs like me!
And finally in place of shoes, I have worn something known as Mojdi. They are designer chappals which go well with the overall dress.
On that particular day, I did feel like a King because of my attire!

THE BRIDE!

Amruta looked nothing short of a princess! There were so many minute details in her dressing that it will take many lines to describe it. Let me make an attempt!
The dress that Amruta has worn is known as a Saree. Its the most popular kind of attire for women in India. The material of the saree is silk and the green colour is considered auspicious during rituals.
She has worn a lot of jewellery, for eg the one of her head, connected to the nose, in her ears, around her neck, fore arms and around her waist. The bangles in her hand made up of green and gold colour are known as "Chuda" which is supposed to be worn by a newly wed bride.
The brown colour on her hands is known as Mehendi. Almost each and every bride applies it in order to look beautiful.
Do not miss the chess king on Amruta's right forearm and a chess queen on her left!

A FIGHT AGAINST THE RITUAL OF WEARING GOLD.


If you see the image of Amruta, you will observe that she has worn a lot of jewellery. In Indian weddings its a tradition that the bride should wear all her jewellery made of gold. Due to this tradition, many poor families are under a lot of stress when it comes to the marriage of their daughters. Thus whenever a girl is born in traditional families it is still considered a burden.
Wearing Jewellery which is aritificial and not made of gold in any ceremony, Amruta in her own little way tried to change the prevailing rigid traditions of Indian marriage. Maybe this little act of hers will give other girls the confidence that its not always necessary to spend a lot during wedding, thus reducing the burden on their parents.

Saying no to gold may reduce female infanticide in India.

CHESS PLAYERS AT THE WEDDING
The wedding was well attended by a lot of chess players! Most notable amongst them were India no.9 GM Vidit Gujarathi (2602), GM Abhijit Kunte (2439) IM Swapnl Dhopade (2424), Indias Latest IM Sameer Kathmale (2398), IM C.S. Gokhale (2248) and many other strong players like Aniruddh Deshpande, Abhishek Kelkar, Chinmay Kulkarni,Shashikant Kutwal, Sohan Phadke, Vinod Bhagwat, Atul Dahale and Niklesh Jain.

The attendance of strong chess players was pretty high!

The groom flanked by 2 GMs Vidit (L) and Kunte (R)

One IM who was definitely going to be present at the wedding was IM and Fide Trainer Prathamesh Mokal, Amruta's brother!

A unique way for the guests to convey their best wishes!

These chess players definitely had some more work to do at the wedding. I will come to the most interesting part of the wedding in a bit. But first a few things about the caste system in India.

CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA
Every person just on the basis of his birth is attached to a specific caste. The castes in Hindu religion are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Kshudras. Then there are sub castes and I think this classification goes on and on. Though the awareness is increasing now, many people still try to find their partner from the same caste in order to lead a similar family life before and after marriage. However the problem is very simple. People from one caste think that their caste is superior to the other. Clear lines have been drawn. The Caste System is one of the prime reasons for inequality in the Indian society.
Aamir Khan, a very famous Indian actor says inter caste marriage is the only way to get rid of this caste system in India.

Caste system is such a outdated concept, I still wonder why people follow it!

I and Amruta not only are from different castes but also speak different languages at home. While she is a Maharashtrian, I am a Gujarati. The thing which binds us is not any caste or religion but love! {and to some extent the game of chess! :)} And the advantage is that each one of us can learn the other person's language,rituals, traditions and customs and thereby increase our knowledge!
In any case the bottom line is simple: You marry the boy/girl you like without thinking about the caste or religion.

WEDDING CEREMONY
The wedding ceremony was done in Vedic format which is common for all castes and religions. I have tried to explain some of the most important moments of the ceremony through the pictures.

mangala sutra (from Sanskrit mangal, meaning "holy, auspicious", and sutra, meaning "thread") is a sacred necklace that a groom ties around the bride's neck, which identifies her as a married woman.

By putting the puffed rice in the fire, Amruta asks God to keep us united and prays for my long life!

Throwing rice grains over Amruta which symbolizes that I am agreement with whatever she is asking and I will fulfill it!

Taking Pheras (circles) around the fire, pledging our devotion and loyalty to each other.


The Saptapadi! Taking 7 steps with Amruta we together prayed for food, strength, piety, progeny, wealth, comfort and health.

The antarpath: Before the final step of exchanging garlands, we both are separated from each other by a flowered veil.

The Garlands are exchanged and finally we are married!!


THE GAME OF CHESS/ MADNESS AT THE WEDDING!
As it was a union of two chess players we tried to do something bold! We organised a small chess event which lasted for 6 minutes.(3 mins each)
We made 2 teams. Team Amruta and Team Sagar. Each team had 6 members. So there were 6 boards. 
In order to make the game more interesting and less serious we tweaked the rules a little by interchanging the place of the King and the Queen and Black making the first move. Also castling was not allowed! This resulted in some original chess.

The two GMs were pitted against each other on board 1.

Team Amruta consisted of all the pune players as she is from Pune. They were Abhijit Kunte, Shashikant Kutwal, Anirudh Deshpande, Sohan Phadke, Abhishek Kelkar and Kiran Panditrao.
Team Sagar had players from different places. They were Vidit Gujarathi, Sameer Kathmale, Vinod Bhagwat, Chinmay Kulkarni, Nikhil Joshi and Omkar Patwardhan.

The interest generated amongst the crowd was simply mind blowing! People were extremely excited seeing top players of the country in action and forgot that a wedding was actually going on.

The players too enjoyed playing but as you always know chess players hate to lose! 
I wont get into individual results but Team Amruta emerged victorious by a score of 3.5-2.5.
It was a very closely fought match and many people said that now Amruta will dominate over me for the rest of the life! I personally think the scenario would not have changed even if my team would have won the match!! :D
I and Amruta take this opportunity to thank each of the 12 players for being such a good sport and playing the game in the right spirit to make it a unique and memorable event! 
A special thanks to Niklesh Jain for organizing this event as well as he organizes tournaments in his state of Madhya Pradesh! :)

His Rook is hanging on g5 and his king is in check, yet he has the audacity to pose for a picture!!

Many people played chess! In our own little way we were able to popularize the game!


The best chess players of Maharashtra in one frame!

No appearance money for these top players! :D

My very good friend Shailesh Nerlikar, who is 100% disabled travelled all the way from Kolhapur to attend the wedding!


A very colourful picture of beautiful women at the wedding! (unfortunately,dear readers, all are married!!)

Much needed energy after hard days work!
It was wonderful Maharashtrian food in silver dishes which included Roti, Puri, Shrikhand, Potato sabji, Vegetable rice, Gulab Jamun, Ice cream and much more!

We were happy that our wedding was covered by the popular Marathi newspaper Loksatta because of the uniqueness in the way the arrangements at the wedding were made. The headline was:
 "The game begins now!"

A huge thanks to my and Amruta's parents who allowed all this madness to happen! Without their permission and support it would have been simply impossible!

Now that I and Amruta are married we would like to work together and become better chess players. There are a lot of strong chess couples in the world. Many of them add upto a combined elo of 5000 points.  So who holds the title of strongest chess couple in the world? ..... any guesses?

Alexander Grischuk and Natalia Zhukova

Their combined rating is 2786+ 2499 = 5285 while me and Amruta tally upto 2304+2041= 4345!
Thats a whooping difference of 940 points!! We have a lot of work to do now in order to become the strongest chess couple in the world! :D 

Thank you dear friends, for patiently reading about our wedding! I hope you found it unique and enjoyed it! Do send us your blessings. I look forward to a happy and fulfilling life with my wife!

54 comments:

  1. Very beautifully done.Though I'm not a huge fan of Chess but found this wonderfully creative! Congratulations and I wish you both a very Happy Married Life ahead. God bless! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Sarla Krishnamurthy. Inspite of not being a chess player, you read the entire article and also took the pains to comment. that means a lot!
      Thank you very much.

      Delete
    2. I was so delighted to meet PRIEST AZIBA after a long time looking for help in order to fix the ups and downs with my boyfriend. We lived together for two years without any problems until this year when he started seeing another girl, When I tried talking to him, he decided to leave me for her which made me so heart broken after all we have been through together, he even stopped picking up my calls and also blocked me from calling him. I love him dearly and couldn't accept losing him that's why I decided to seek help from PRIEST AZIBA through his number +2348100368288, he helped me quickly in one day and as I speak my boyfriend is back to me with lots of love and respect like never before. Am expecting more good things to happen in our relationship.
      Get in contact with PRIEST AZIBA and He's also specialize in giving lottery winning numbers spells, Herbal Medicines E.T.C. Get connected Email: priestazibasolutioncenter@gmail.com Or WhatsApp : +2348100368288

      Delete
  2. u are really a nice person sagar.. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I dont know who you are as your comment is anonymous. But thanks a lot for your compliment! :)

      Delete
  3. Hi Sagar,
    Cograts on your wedding
    Thanks for posting about it.
    One thing I will disagree about is your write-up on the caste system. I am not sure that castesystem even exists in the large metro areas - particularly among the educated people. Atleast I didnt feel it when I grew up in Bombay in the 80s and 90s.
    Congratulations again and apologies for expressing a different opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I respect your opinion.
      Caste system is a problem in India be it rural or metro cities. I just brought it into light with the hope that people must not worry about such things when they fall in love.
      Thanks for your opinion!

      Delete
    2. Who said that Caste system is problem? Its always a problem for people who have not understand it. That is why divorce rated have increased in metro cities than in rural areas. caste system should be followed but not thinking one superior to other rather in thought of finding the right candidate. Caste system is more of a problem in love marriages than in arrange marriages where people see the human and get marry but find the real being after marriage!!. No wonder love marriages success rate is lower and India Sri lanka has lowest divorce rates (~4%) (firm believer of arrange marriages).

      Delete
  4. This is beautifully and rather innovatively done Sagarbeta. Wish you and Amruta a blissful married life with loads of love, respect, trust and understanding for each other. God bless you both.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Everything is very good and excellent except the caste system you have written.Caste System has it merits and demerits. It is foolish to say why one should not follow it. It has logical backgrounds of why one should follow it. Still there is a rule never deny a good girl from any family. girls are always worshiped here. Today's culture has lost the virtue of marriage. So its foolish to expect from hybrid societies to follow caste system as irrational people wont understand it which has nothing to do with education. And remember caste is determined by the work and not by the surname.

    ReplyDelete
  6. God bless you and wish you a very happy married life !!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Sagar., congratulations and happy married life :) i wish you both to achieve the title "strongest chess couple in the world ". apart from good chess player, you seems very nice human-being.!! good luck for all future endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Sagar Shah,

    Wow! Very Awesome!!

    Congratulations Sagar!! and I wish you both a very Happy Married Life...!!!

    From,
    Nihar Kulkarni,
    Deaf Chess Player..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Sagar, I wish you a very happy married life!
    The blog is well written. I enjoyed reading, Thanks,
    Yogesh

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Sagar & Amruta,
    I wish you, all the best for happy married life. Once I shared accommodation with Amrutha in a chess tournament.

    Former SL female chess player

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love you color choice and the Shape of chess behind the stages is the perfect touch. Thank you so much for sharing your inspiration with us at 4 Crafty chess wedding.


    Video Production Adelaide & Wedding Videographer Adelaide

    ReplyDelete
  12. It must be very nice to see this type of marriage with own eyes but unfortunately I am not in your friend's list and I do not know any one in frame personally, its ok but congrats and all the best.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is wonderful coverage of a very nice wedding with a top theme. Great explanations of the wedding and the photos are so good. The couple looks wonderful. Wishing you both great success.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey Giri Sopiko doesn't feature in here ?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Are you stuck in finding ways to select Bridal Mehndi Designer And Artist in Delhi. If you do not want to spoil all the hard work of your wedding planning click here to find out how these tips can help you to plan your wedding the way you want it to be.

    Bridal Mehndi Artist in Delhi

    Bridal Mehndi Artist in Delhi

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nice Blog. Today Online Matrimony website play major role in Indian wedding

    ReplyDelete
  17. It was an amazing experience to visit this website and read the articles and contents.

    All Inclusive Wedding Packages & Indian Destination wedding Planner

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is a really good read for me.Thanks For sharing.
    Indian Wedding in Mexico & Indian Destination wedding Planner



    ReplyDelete
  19. I found some useful information in your blog, it was awesome to read, thanks for sharing this great content to my vision, keep sharing..
    Pakistani Online Suits

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a fantabulous post this has been. Never seen this kind of useful post. I am grateful to you and expect more number of posts like these. Thank you very much. wedding halls

    ReplyDelete
  21. Amazing pictures with unique ideas thanks for sharing we also serve as a wedding photographer please check here
    Candid photographer in Lucknow
    Wedding photographer in Lucknow
    Candid wedding photographer in Lucknow

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi nice blog....
    For Beach Wedding in Goaor Royal Wedding Planner in Udaipur Contact Moving Knots.
    We are Wedding Planner in Udaipur and provide you best wedding planning services.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow! You write so well. I like the way how you describe each and everything.
    Hindu Wedding Cards.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Well, these are some most romantic and lovely pictures I have ever seen over web. These are full of love, innocence, compatibility and more. Wish you a great time ahead. film and photography services in cuttack

    ReplyDelete
  25. SAVE up to 25% off on wedding

    invitations Card
    .Find modern wedding announcements, unique wedding invitations &

    elegant wedding stationery at abhi print.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I was so delighted to meet PRIEST AZIBA after a long time looking for help in order to fix the ups and downs with my boyfriend. We lived together for two years without any problems until this year when he started seeing another girl, When I tried talking to him, he decided to leave me for her which made me so heart broken after all we have been through together, he even stopped picking up my calls and also blocked me from calling him. I love him dearly and couldn't accept losing him that's why I decided to seek help from PRIEST AZIBA through his number +2348100368288, he helped me quickly in one day and as I speak my boyfriend is back to me with lots of love and respect like never before. Am expecting more good things to happen in our relationship.
    Get in contact with PRIEST AZIBA and He's also specialize in giving lottery winning numbers spells, Herbal Medicines E.T.C. Get connected Email: priestazibasolutioncenter@gmail.com Or WhatsApp : +2348100368288

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information.

    We are also one of the best pandit online and hindu priest for wedding ceremony.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value.
    Wedding Ambience Photographers Services in Delhi NCR

    ReplyDelete
  29. In India, marriages are typically decided by the brides and grooms parents. In pleasant India, for marriages, we believe in the to the front occurring from simple pundits, family, close relatives, intimates associates, and other stuffy ones. Find perfect soulmate on free Online Matrimonial Site

    Online Matrimonial Sites in India help bride groom families to find an ideal unconditional supporter (life partner) in everything for them. Your reach accomplice in partner might be a couple of snaps away. These Matrimonial Sites are presently in pattern as there are in excess of 1000 lithe Matrimonial Sites consistently perky. The adolescent is increasingly disposed towards these as we see numerous profiles in a brief timeframe length. These sites have terrible databases for the two brides and grooms. These Online Matrimonial Sites tainted people’s observation not quite arrange marriage. The idea of calculation age Online Matrimonial Sites misrepresented the method for looking through an actual moving picture scarf and furthermore changed the pretentiousness, how marriages were led in a conventional method for a seeking vibrancy band together subsequently the opinion of VICHOLIA.

    Trusted Indian Matrimony Site, Best Matchmaking site, Online Matrimonial Marriage Bureau

    ReplyDelete
  30. Really Good work, all the pictures are really good and shining, Thanks for sharing!!!
    Photographers in Jaipur, Royal wedding Photographers in Jaipur

    ReplyDelete
  31. You can hire a Commercial Photographer for a variety of reasons and it is definitely worth the time and money it costs to do so. The main goal of videos is to attract viewers. You want your videos to be interesting, interesting! Author is an expert of commercial Photography, visit here for more interesting information.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Reading this after 7 years.. Source is your video off course.. Happy Anniversary Sagar Bhai... Loads of Love from Kolkata

    ReplyDelete
  33. Very rare theme to looked but it was nice concept.

    Sign up your profile on Free Matrimony App in India to get a nice match and get coupled.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Documentary wedding photography in essex is becoming increasingly popular these days as more couples want to preserve the memories of their big day.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "You can change the world by your example and not your opinion" - Sagar and Amruta you just did that by valuing Love above everything else. Chess themed wedding was brilliant. I have been following your recent commentary on the Goldmoney Asian Rapid, and it is quite fun to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  36. MeraVyaah.com is a most renowned international matrimonial portal which provides the genuine profiles of prospective brides and grooms from all over the world.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thank You for sharing such an lovely blog: I would love to share

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank You for sharing such an amazing blog: I would love to share

    ReplyDelete
  39. liked the information you gave, thanks for sharing wedding on cruise ship cost

    ReplyDelete
  40. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Thank You for sharing such an informative blog!! i would love to share in Best Photography services in Ghaziabad

    ReplyDelete
  42. Its a very informative piece of content and thanks for sharing Jammu Flights

    ReplyDelete
  43. Great Article! Musical pheras in Faridabad refers to a Hindu wedding tradition where the bride and groom walk around a sacred fire (agni) seven times, accompanied by music and singing. The pheras symbolize the seven vows taken by the couple, which include promises to support each other, respect each other's families, and maintain a lifelong bond.

    ReplyDelete