Amid the chaos, love blooms. This turned out true in Gokulpuri -- one of the worst affected areas of northeast Delhi that was ravaged by violent clashes recently. Mahendra Kumar and Savita Kashyap, both in their 20s, got married on Friday -- four days after they exchanged rings in an engagement ceremony.
"We had never thought that communal violence would take place in our area. We had booked a brass-band, banquet hall, decorators, caters and DJ etc and paid them advance money as well. We have lost huge money as all of them refused to come here," the bride's father, Raj Veer Singh said.
In one of the deadliest violence that Delhi has seen in decades, clashes between groups in favour and against of controversial new Indian citizenship law, broke out on Sunday.
The violence, centred in neighbourhoods of northeast Delhi, continued for nearly three days, leaving a trail of devastation and deaths behind.
Gokulpuri was among the worst-hit despite the government imposing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in Delhi for one month. But that didn't deter the couple's families from going ahead with tieing the nuptial knot.
"I was adamant that my daughter's wedding would take place on the decided date.. I am satisfied that my daughter's wedding ceremony was held successfully. The situation too, is also getting back to normal," the bride's father added.
But the wedding was rather a hush-hush affair, with just close family members attending the rituals. No lavish decoration, no banquet, no elaborate guest list.
"Our family first came to see the situation here and once we found that things were normal, we celebrated the wedding of our brother here in a small ceremony," the groom's brother, Harish Kumar said.
At least 42 people lost their lives in three days of mayhem that ripped through northeast Delhi. Amidst heavy deployment of security forces, life is limping back to normalcy.
More than 100 FIRs have been arrested with police arresting scores of people accused of indulging in arson and looting.
"I could not sleep for the last one week. I was apprehensive of the fact that mob might loot our things which we have gathered for our daughter's wedding. We had booked a wedding hall at Bhajanpura. But due to the fear of the current situation, my relatives were not willing to come to Bhajanpura. Yesterday, we organised a small wedding ceremony in front of our residence when security forces were deployed," narrated Savita's mother Kamlesh.
