As big fat weddings shed their flab, mares get kicked to the curb in Ludhiana

Equine owners are raking massive debt with people holding off weddings or holding low-key events amid the covid restrictions; it costs ₹200 per day to look after each animal, thus many mare providers are putting the animals for sale but are getting no takers

With the coronavirus pandemic sounding the death knell for the big fat Indian wedding, the new-age groom is opting to not gallop onto the wedding venue on a decked up white mare, a well-lubricated wedding procession in tow, but is instead zooming to the locale in a car or two-wheeler.

While Ludhiana’s mare owners sit idle and can no longer afford to pay staff amid Covid restrictions, their stable boys have picked up odd jobs to survive. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

While this departure from the age-old tradition has helped brides and grooms-to-be economise, it has certainly cost the equines and their owners dear. Staring at an unprecedented crisis since lockdown was imposed in March 2020, those in the mare business have been struggling to make ends meet, so much so that arranging feed for the animals is becoming tougher with each passing day.

Reeling under fiscal losses due to the slump in business, owners of mares have found themselves under a mountain of debt a year on. Unable to feed and groom their mares any longer, many have put their mares on sale, but are finding no takers.

Discounting the household expenses, mare owners have to spend ₹200 on each equine per day. However, left in a lurch with no income source, shelling ₹200 a day is also a tall order.

Gursharan Singh, a mare provider, who inherited the business from his grandfather, says, “People are going for low-key weddings these days and mares are unfortunately not making the cut. With no earnings for over a year, I have had to borrow money to arrange bread and butter for my family. I have two kids and have to pay their school fee as well as such caring for the mares any longer seems infeasible. However, no one wants to buy the animals. The government keeps announcing restrictions but we are still waiting for relief.”

“Three generations of our family have been in the business but we have never witnessed such a prolonged dry spell before,” says Singh.

Those in the business of renting out mares can be seen sitting idle on the bus stand. In the pre-Covid era they would make a handsome profit between August and April.

‘Resume night-time weddings’

Ask them if the relaxations had helped boost business, the mare providers say day-time relaxations count for little as the slump will continue until night-time weddings resume. With only 50 people allowed in a gathering, hardly any customer is showing up.

So, are any of them planning to change their vocation? The mare owners respond in the negative, saying they have been in the business for decades and do not know any other work.

“I have 15 mares and the daily expenditure on them comes to around ₹3,000. Even as we struggling to feed our families, we have to arrange feed for these speechless animals. People are blind to our plight as we stare down an abyss of uncertainty. Even if bigger gatherings are allowed and business bounces back, it will take at least two years to clear our debts and get life back on track,” says one Tony.

Stable boys rendered dependent on gurdwaras

While mare owners sit idle and can no longer afford to pay staff, their stable boys have picked up odd jobs to survive. Another mare provider, Arvinder Singh Lucky, says,”While we can only wait for things to normalise, our labour has picked up odd jobs to make ends meet. Many a times, they rely on the local gurdwara for their meals.”