Nikhil Pawar and Eunika Pogran met each other on the beaches of Kovalam last July. And when they decided to get married, this popular tourist destination in Thiruvananthapuram was but a natural choice for the location.
But they added a cool twist to the big day – the wedding was held four metres underwater.
A diving instructor from Maharashtra, Nikhil married Eunika, a political science graduate from Slovakia, at the Grove Beach here on Thursday. “I wanted to make it really special and memorable. Since diving has remained a true passion for me, this was a natural thing to do,” he told DH.
Incidentally, Nikhil had proposed to Eunika under water as well. The couple are also planning to have a “regular” wedding soon.
Pawar called it a “simple ring-exchange ceremony” but with corals for the backdrop and an underwater kiss to seal it. A small group of friends were in attendance.
The 40-minute ceremony was organised by Bond Safari, Nikhil’s employer. The company provides scuba diving and snorkelling services to tourists in and around Kovalam.
Jackson, the managing partner of Bond Safari, told DH that the wedding, “the first of its kind in India”, could add an interesting product line to the Kovalam experience.
“Destination weddings have been gaining popularity across the world, but an underwater wedding is a first here. We put up a small wedding backdrop with flowers and coconut palms but apart from that, the setting was completely natural,” said Jackson.
Hours after the wedding, the excitement was palpable in Nikhil’s voice. Anything else they would have liked for the ceremony? “We would have probably liked it to be a more private affair. We didn’t quite want it to be a spectacle,” said Nikhil.
DH News Service