Akshata Murthy and Rishi Sunak
Akshata, is currently employed with Tendris, a Dutch cleantech Incubator Fund, as its marketing director. Said to be one of Infosys” largest individual shareholders her 1.4 per cent stake is valued at around Rs 1,600 crore.
Rishi Sunak, a British citizen of Indian origin, is a Fulbright scholar who studied at Oxford and Stanford. He is a partner at the UK-based charitable hedge fund TCI, The Childrens Investment fund. Narayana Murthy, the prominent Bangalore-based industrialist hosted a simple no tamasha, traditional wedding for his daughter Akshata on August 30th in Bangalore. We wonder what would happen when another Bangalore-based industrialist (popularly known as the …king of good times) hosts his childs wedding‚would Bangalore stink design labels, glitter, glamour and opulence or would the wedding be held at a luxury resort in an oh so exotic destination- which only a handful of Indians have been privileged to access!
Akshata’s wedding reflected the mindset, values and lifestyle of her parents. Though everyone has heard about the Murthys simple lifestyle, they had presumed the most awaited event in their life would be a grand celebration. And the simple, traditional wedding surprised all; while many were touched by the low key festivities where guests were paid personal attention to‚others were amazed as to how one of Indias richest families could host such a no-fuss traditional affair.
It was clear that the bride, groom and Sudha and Narayana Murthy are preoccupied with so many other career, social and development issues‚and stuff like large celebrations, multi-cuisines, wedding decor formats, lehenga colors and embellishments occupy less interest or importance in their lives‚ were quite sure Sudha Murthy didnt sweat the small stuff‚worrying about all the wedding details or soaking in the pleasure of planning each and every aspect of function and more functions‚she could have hired the countrys best wedding planners and done more than one rehearsal of the most awaited day in her life; yet she possibly chose not to work too hard on all this‚and focus her interest and energies on the traditions and rituals of her community wedding instead.
What is also interesting is the way the bride and her mother dressed- no dripping diamonds, heavily embroidered wear or gaudy accessories. Both the bride and mother wore subtle make-up, a natural look hairstyle and what by Indian wedding standards could be considered minimal and basic jewellery.
Weddings are an obsession in India and every prominent Indians wedding is talked about for days, weeks or months‚ usually for the opulence with which it was held or very rarely (or almost never) for the way the moneyed family hosted a simple yet memorable event. Regardless of the scale every celebrity wedding leaves a huge impression on peoples mind‚ and they try to get information and more information on what the celebs wore, the celebration venue or the decorator and caterer. And they aspire that these brands or wedding vendors will be an element of their wedding too!
Though the Murthy wedding has been simple, they have made select brands even more popular‚ WeddingSutra brings you a list of select people, places and brands which the Murthy family chose‚wed have loved to know more about the wedding and share the same with WeddingSutra readers- but as youd know, the wedding was a very low-key affair and so few people actually know about the wedding picks and choices. And much as were dying to learn this, we cant tell you where Akshata picked the pretty pink saree that she wore for the pre-wedding puja or the designer who designed the beautiful orange lehenga choli for the evening reception.
The venue of the pre-wedding puja- Chamaraja Kalyana Mantapa, Jayanagar, Bangalore The wedding reception venue- The Ballroom, Leela Palace Hotel, Old Airport Road, Bangalore
Wedding food- Adiga Caterers well-known for Kannadiga dishes. The satvik (no onion and garlic) meal was a traditional Mysore Brahmin fare (Narayana Murthy is from Mysore) with the Dharwad touch (Sudha Murthys home town). The highlight of the menu was mandige – a sweet from Hubli. The food was served in plain biodegrable plantain leaves.
Wedding guests- Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Anil Kumble, Nandan M Nilekani, Captain G.R. Gopinath, Prakash Padukone, Syed Kirmani, Girish Karnad.
