N. Raghuraman's column: Saving money during showmanship is the biggest skill.

There is a wedding in my family on August 28th. The venue is 300 km from Chennai to Kumbakonam. All the relatives have been told two months in advance. So that they can secure train tickets in time. But things started to deteriorate when the mathematics of long time and budget started colliding. The train journey from Mumbai to there is 35 hours. Such a long journey for the elderly is no less than a struggle. So, most of them decided to take a flight to the nearest airport Tiruchirappalli. But the real drama started when the wedding card appeared on the family WhatsApp group. As soon as the card arrived, instead of congratulatory messages, the group started brainstorming that the ticket from Mumbai to Tiruchirappalli was worth 16,000. Now consider the full cost of a guest – a flight worth 16,000, a taxi worth Rs 2,500 from the airport to the venue, Rs 4,000 for a two-day stay in a budget hotel and other miscellaneous expenses worth Rs 2,000. On top of all this, the omen is different. As a result, these expenses suppressed the joys of marriage. Most of the relatives on the group have not yet agreed to come. In today's era, the average cost of attending a wedding for the middle class has increased so much that it is preventing them from attending. In our Indian society, marriages have become the biggest currency of social responsibility. If you don't go to a family wedding, you risk a 'social boycott' of the elderly who don't talk to you for six months. There is a ledger in the minds of our relatives, in which the complete account of who attended whose wedding and who gave how much omen is kept for decades. The problem today is that the hosts are running after the perfect-looking 'fairytale wedding' on Instagram, but the price is being paid by the guests. Due to this fear of disgrace, many elderly people are forced to travel through tedious paths by tormenting the body so that they do not become the subject of gossip. Management Tip: The fragrance of Mogre flowers, don't spoil the budget to be a part of social media pictures. Saving your pocket and peace of mind in the face of showmanship is the greatest asset management. Instead of going to the wedding yourself, send useful gifts that will come in handy for the new couple, protect your self-esteem.