An IT engineer couple tied the knot underwater off the Neelankarai coast on Monday morning. Clad in their wedding finery, sari and dhothi, the two took a dive to spread the message of keeping the oceans and waterbodies clean and plastic-free.
The bride, S. Swetha, who hails from Coimbatore, said when the groom’s family suggested an underwater wedding, she hesitated and was afraid.
“But they convinced me and after due training in a swimming pool and also after a few scuba diving sessions, I was confident enough and took the plunge today. The first time that I went to the bottom of the sea, I saw live fish swimming by me. It was an experience of a life time,” she said.
V. Chinnadurai, the groom from Tiruvannamalai, said that he was a swimming enthusiast from his young age.
“I have been scuba diving for 12 years now, thanks to Aravind anna, our instructor. It was his idea that we get married under sea. We spent 45 minutes under water. I proposed to her with a bouquet and then exchanged garlands and then tied the thali. Flowers were showered on us and then we took a few rounds under water. We are worried about finding masks under water. We wanted to create an awareness about this and so chose our wedding as an occasion,” he said.
S.B. Aravind Tharunsri, master instructor, Professional Association of Diving Instructors in Australia, said that they had not even fixed the date for the wedding but instead waited for a calm day at the sea. The two dived to a depth of about 60 feet to reach the seabed at a distance of 4.5 km from the shore.
Awaited a calm sea
“Last night we got a call from the fishermen that the sea was calm and so we hurried early this morning. We had taken permission from the coastal police for the marriage. After coming onto the shore, the other rituals were done,” he also said.
The couple said that they could not call many friends and relatives since they were not sure of the date of the wedding. They have invited people over to the reception that is slated to be held in Sholinganallur later this month.
