The decorations for a celebrity wedding at the Turf Club — where most politicos get married — alone cost about Rs 1 crore. Add to that the usual guest list of 5,000 and the expenses can get mind-boggling.
So Murli and Hema Deora decided their son Milind’s wedding would be a low-key affair. Married to Pooja, daughter of filmmaker Manmohan Shetty, on Sunday, the Deoras, though, were not scrimping on money. They decided not to waste it.
They are now starting a trust with an initial corpus of the Rs 1 crore that would have gone towards the flower arrangements and other miscellaneous costs. The fund will help those who can’t afford their medical treatment.
What got Deora, Union minister for petroleum, to set up the trust was an incident at JJ Hospital earlier this year. Deora was part of the guest list for the renovation of the government-run hospital. At the function, an elderly man hobbled up to the dean and asked when he would get better.
“Well, you need a hip replaced,” the Dean replied. Told that that would cost Rs 60,000, the man said he just didn’t have that kind of money.
{{/usCountry}}“Well, you need a hip replaced,” the Dean replied. Told that that would cost Rs 60,000, the man said he just didn’t have that kind of money.
{{/usCountry}}When Deora asked what would happen to the man, doctors at the hospital said he would have to live without his hip. “I could not stop thinking about how a man could be crippled just because he did not have Rs 60,000.”
Deora then sent the money to the hospital, asking that the man be given the new hip.