Past GT essay - Today in many countries, people hold bigger and more expensive weddings than before. Is it a positive or negative development?

Marriage is perhaps the biggest day of one’s life. No wonder, today in many nations people have started spend lavishly on weddings. In my opinion it is a negative development. I firmly believe that it is not necessary to overspend on these days to make them memorable and enjoyable.

It would be worthwhile to examine why some people have bigger weddings nowadays. They believe that such events are very special should be celebrated with great pomp and show. As it is the youth of today are forgetting their culture and tradition under the influence of the global culture and these days are opportunities to revive such traditions in the minds of the youth.

Secondly, in the fast paced life of today, it is only on such occasions that friend and relatives take time off to be together. Therefore, to make these days special, people spend lavishly on them. They believe that spending on such events is good to revive the community spirit among people.

In my opinion, those who overspend on such days merely want to show their status in society. It is essential to celebrate such days, but, it is not necessary to make them very big. Only those many people should be invited who can be attended properly. Everyone should participate and have happy memories of such events in their minds forever. There is so much poverty in the world and rather than frittering away a lot of money on such events it is better to donate some to charity to make such days special and meaningful. To cite an example, our great celebrity, Amitabh Bacchan celebrated his daughter’s and son’s wedding very simply with only a few friends and relatives. More and more people should follow his example and donate that saved money to charity.

Another reason which goes against overspending on such events is that many a time people go into debt in order to keep up with their affluent friends and relatives. This one day may give them stress for many days or even months later on. What is more, if we want to be rid of dowry system and female foeticide then it is very essential that we keep these celebrations simple and easy on our pockets so that there is no stress on anyone.  

To sum up, it can be said that celebrating weddings is necessary as these days are important in our lives, but it is not necessary to overspend on them.