Where is recession! Grooms ride to weddings in choppers

There have been several occasions when the rich and the famous in India have used choppers to arrive for their weddings by making a style statement - and Delhi's neighbourhood got to see two such examples on Friday.

There was, however, a slight difference: the grooms were most definitely rich but famous they certainly were not.

Umesh Yadav, a 28-year-old wrestler in Noida's Sarfabad village, travelled in a helicopter to the bride's place at Behlolpur, situated merely one kilometre away - and spent a Rs.250,000 for the short ride.

Umesh, is a wrestler practicing at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi and also owns an akhara (wrestling arena) at Sarfabad. His father Shailesh Yadav is a farmer.

"We had sought prior permission from the administration for the use of the helicopter. Marriage is a one-time occasion and one should enjoy it to the hilt," said Gajendra Yadav, Umesh's cousin.

The wrestler wed Ruby Yadav, daughter of Hazari Yadav.

In the second wedding extravaganza, a groom in Shahpur Bamheta village in Ghaziabad travelled by chopper to the wedding venue located just 1.5 km away.

Prashant Yadav, also a farmer's son, flew to Inder Colony in Vijay Nagar to tie the knot with Preeti Yadav, who runs her own school, said Phoolkumar Yadav, councillor of the area in Ghaziabad.

Prashant's trip cost him Rs.310,000.

Taking aviation security measures into account, the administration has made it mandatory for people to seek prior permission for using a helicopter during weddings. And in light of the widespread use of helicopters in the wealthy Greater Noida area, the district administration had in March, 2008 imposed security charges on using a chopper.

As per the new norms, an individual has to shell out at least Rs.70,000 for a helicopter trip (for an hour) besides an additional Rs.10,000 for security, Rs.8,000 for fire safety and Rs.10,000 as helipad charges.