When the bride, not groom, came with band, baaza, baraat

People queueing up to watch a baraat (marriage procession) is not new, however, in Maner on the outskirts of Patna, locals made a beeline to watch a unique baraat  the first of its kind.

Instead of the groom, it had the bride, all dressed up in dark red bridal attire, taking out the baraat in a horse-chariot, while the groom waited at the Danapur Cantonment Rest House, the marriage venue, to welcome her and the other baraatis.

While the bride Sneh Lata Rai is an assistant manager with a prominent private bank in Mumbai, the groom Anil Yadav is an Indian Navy officer posted in Mumbai. Sneh Lata's father Vinod Kumar Rai (originally hailing from Maner) is a senior defence officer while Anil's family is from Madhubani in North Bihar.

On the arrival of the baraat, the groom Anil Yadav received the bride, escorted her to the dais before exchanging garlands. Later, the wedding was performed with traditional fervour.

Much before their wedding was finalised, the bride and the groom had planned about the reversal of roles when it would come to taking out the baraat. "We are three sisters. No brothers. Our parents gave us proper upbringing which made me join the bank, while my sisters Vinita and Vidushi are pursuing MBBS and fashion designing courses respectively.

We wanted to spread the message of gender equality and also women empowerment. Hence we took out this baraat. Hope our wedding will set a new precedence and be remembered as a memorable one," said Sneh Lata on Saturday soon after her wedding was over.