Necessity is the mother of invention, and the COVID-19 pandemic has put the world on an innovation overdrive.
When the corona-induced lockdown first struck, people were baffled. They found it tough to cope up with the loneliness, isolation, and work-from-home challenges. But with each passing day, they realized that to fulfill life’s needs, they need to find ways and means.
The wedding and event industries have been among the worst affected businesses during the pandemic. With social distancing norms, it has become almost impossible to conduct a big fat Indian wedding with thousands of guests and sumptuous food.
Besides the cap on the number of people who can attend the wedding, the closure of wedding halls, event spaces, hotels, and even religious places, made it difficult for families to organize a wedding with all its glitz and glam following societal and religious paraphernalia.
However, the restrictions did not deter the spirit of A. Abdul Hakkim, an art designer who is into creating sets and other props for events.
A native of Udumalaipettai in Tamil Nadu, Abdul converted his truck into a wedding stage. He transformed the rear side of his truck into a wedding stage with decorations and props. And, in no time, word spread, and his popularity reached even neighboring states.
Hakkim has been running his art business for nearly two decades and says that he experimented when families had to call off the weddings because of the pandemic and associated restrictions.
He started offering his mobile wedding unit for marriages in 2020. Since then, Abdul has conducted over 25 weddings and is looking forward to another wedding on May 27, 2021.
“I wanted to help those who cannot conduct their weddings in the COVID-19 times,” he says. Abdul moves the “mobile wedding hall,” to a location as chosen by the families of the bride and groom.
The truck has decorations, a sound system, and lights. Talking about the innovative wedding stage, he says, “The stage and the decorations are customizable. I have a temporary set of stairs for people to climb onto the stage. They can play the customary wedding music using a pen drive.”
“The stage and the decorations are customizable. I have a temporary set of stairs for people to climb onto the stage. They can play the customary wedding music using a pen drive,” Hakkim says about his innovative wedding stage.
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While marriage halls and event spaces charge several lakhs of rupees for weddings, his truck comes at INR 25,000.
“It’s not the stage alone. My truck has 50 chairs, four round tables, and two buffet tables, which I place at the venue for the guests,” he added.
Hakkim ensures he doesn’t compromise the safety aspects. His team conducts temperature checks and sanitization for the family and guests. They keep a tab on the number of attendees following the government norms and social distancing.
Abdul’s wedding on wheels has piqued many, and he says he gets orders from several other states, too. However, he is unable to service those requests. He says, “While I am open to teaching the techniques to whoever is interested, currently, I cannot take the truck to other states because of the restrictions.”
Besides earning profits, the innovation has put him as a guest speaker at management institutions.