How the coronavirus pandemic has upended the traditional Indian wedding

Ridhi Shah’s wedding was nothing like she expected.

For one, the Mumbai resident organised her three-day shaadi all by herself to minimise her contact with family and friends, even decorating her own hands with elaborate mehndi designs to mark the start of the ceremony.

Instead of the groom circling the sacred fire by her side — an important rite of a Hindu marriage ceremony — he was beamed in from Sydney onto Ridhi’s computer screen via the video conferencing platform Zoom.

Indian weddings usually also feature pyramids of gold and silver foiled sweets, but not this time.

Instead, guests took photos of their mishti — traditional Indian sweets — and…