“Do you take her as your bride?”
“Sorry what was that? I couldn’t hear you over all the water gushing around me!”
Was perhaps what Nikhil Pawar, a Maharashtrian, would have said to the priest as he said his vows to his bride Eunika Pogran, a Slovakian. In one of the most unique weddings till date, at least in India, the couple got betrothed by the seabed just off the coast of Grove Beach nearby Kovalam. A small podium was made under the sea where the couple could stand and perform the ceremony as told by one of the managing partners of Bond Safari, the organisers of the wedding. They spoke about the limitations of underwater weddings in India and this being the first time someone has actually got wed in the sea.
For Pawar, who is a diving instructor at Bond Ocean Safari in Kovalam, it was a dream come true. Eunika is a graduate in political science and met Nikhil a few months ago in Kovalam. After dating for a while, Nikhil finally popped the question and she said yes over a long drive. “We have always wanted to do something interesting for our wedding and Eunika readily agreed when I proposed the idea of an underwater wedding. Being a regular traveler and a diving enthusiast, she quickly learnt everything and found no issues underwater. After we first met seven months ago in Kovalam, she went back to her hometown and returned a month ago. Wedding was not in the plan then, but since we were confident of taking our relationship to the next level, we decided to take the plunge,” said the smiling Nikhil. So on 26th January 2017, the couple, wearing diving gears over their tuxedo and wedding gown, took a leap of faith into their lives and the sea.
Prior to the actual wedding, the couple underwent a two day training for scuba diving and breath control. On the day, there were placards to ask them the regular questions during the ceremony to which they replied in sign language. Finally the groom was asked to kiss the bride and the deal was sealed. After emerging out of the waters from their underwater wedding, the two acknowledged that they will be officially registering their marriage in Maharashtra before a formal ceremony back in Slovakia.
Check the snippet of the marriage here.
