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Witerati | Shaadi cards turn storytellers
The AR-driven digital twists to the wedding card narrative are virtually robbing some customs of their community connect
We are in the throes of another wedding season, that’s bigger, bolder, bawdier.
And what’s its new ground reality? Augmented reality (AR).
It’s not just newer dream destinations and designer themes that are the rage, but also invites with a twist that smack of the digital age.
Actor Aditi Rao Hyadri’s nuptials may have tossed into the spotlight this season’s newer destinations for dream weddings --- like the lesser-known Alila Fort Bishangarh in Rajasthan.
But what’s adding a truly new twist to the designer wedding narrative is AR.
Augmented reality, ahoy
AR lends a whole new dimension to the customised wedding experience, riding QR codes and all that.
AR-enabled invites transform the ordinary card into a shaadi storyteller with swag.
From slideshows scampering across smartphone screens to interactive RSVP responses to caricatures of the bride and groom popping out to food listings to gifting options and the works.
If you wish to know the menu preferences of the wedding invitees -- vegan or non-vegan, AR is your answer. If you want to drop subtle hints about gifting ideas, AR does it for you. All this on one AR-enabled invite.
To top it all, AR-savvy invites save the bother of sending out physical invites.
Designer cards dripping opulence -- Swarovski souvenirs to Shahnaz Husain gift packs -- are old hat.
AR is the new kid on the wedding card block.
Impressive. Immersive. Interactive.
Ah, but whither the personalised human touch! Whither the “potlis” of emotions and excitement galore that came embedded into this custom of card-giving of yore!
Nostalgia nudges now into this new-age narrative. Surely. Sorely.
Naani-daadis as newscasters
In the good old days, wedding invites came stamped with simplicity and a sense of community celebration. Saadgi and sanskaar used to be the shaadi cards’ signature stamps.
Frills, finery and filthy display of wealth were never so lavishly wrapped into the wedding card custom. Until the Bollywood-inspired and Ambani-aspirational templates gate-crashed into the designer wedding narrative.
At best, all that accompanied wedding invites in the good ‘ol days was a box of homemade desi ghee pinnis or laddoos or a potli of dry fruits.
In bygone times, our naanis and daadis played not only the neighbourhood newscasters, but also the chattering carriers of nuptial cards.
Naanis and daadis to maamis and mausis to chaijis and chaachis were not only the prattling poster girls of the card-distributing custom, but also its double brand ambassadors.
And how!
They carried tidings of a match clinched, and returned with a dual mission accomplished -- more marital alliances to be clinched.
Credit this on their alert antennas and hawk gaze that espied chances to play vicholaas (middle-persons) for future match-making in the households visited, where their roving eyes had spotted eligible bachelors or brides.
This custom of pottering about the neighbourhood as many a wedding card carrier, thus spelt for them an alternate career.
Ferrying forth wedding cards to a phuphaji in Punjabi Bagh or a mausa ji in Maharani Bagh, in bygone days, were like pilgrimages of pomp and pageantry.
The wedding card-giving custom was an occasion to consolidate and cement community bonds. Carrying cards was a pretext to visit family or friends whom one hadn’t met in ages. This custom was also a time to build bridges, by becoming an excuse to visit kith and kin with whom relations had soured.
Alas, AR-savvy shaadi cards may virtually rob the custom of this community connect.
Wonder what naanis-daadis would say to wedding invites driven by AR?
“Ughh-mented Reality!” Perhaps.
The curious case of “AR Aur QR Ki Prem Kahani”.
chetnakeer@yahoo.com
