In most of the Indian weddings ,families are staging extravagant displays of food . The prodigious waste that follows has horrified many in a nation where food prices are skyrocketing and tens of millions of young children are malnourished. About one-fifth of the food served at weddings and social gatherings is discarded. It's a criminal waste.

When the daughter of  renowned businessman got married , guests were treated to a lavish 30-course meal served in super-sized silver platters. The Kashmiri feast, prepared by an army of chefs, included more than 20 meat and kebab dishes rich with spices to go with the saffron-flavored rice and naan breads. Hours later, after the more than 500 guests had eaten their fill, the leftovers were dumped by the cartload at a nearby garbage site. At another wedding of the son of a political party leader, more than a 100 dishes representing Thai, Chinese, Mediterranean and Indian cuisines were served to over 30,000 guests. About 20 percent would've been thrown away.

There should be strong laws to curtail what has become known as the Big Fat Indian Wedding. The tons of food wasted at social gatherings across the country each day contrasts sharply with the food shortages, often bordering on chronic starvation, faced by millions of poor Indians.

Around 100,000 weddings and social events are held in India every day. Food wasted each day at weddings and family functions in Mumbai alone would be enough to feed the city's vast slum population.

Few alternative measures which can be put into practice are :

1.Arrange  to pick up the leftovers and distribute them to the poor .

2.Put a cap on maximum number of guests per wedding.

3.Austerity at seminar , conferences , weddings and parties

4. Spread the message that scaled down wedding is not an indication of less ?well to do? family.

5. Guests should take RSVP seriously so that hosts can arrange the food for only those(plus little extra)those who have confirmed(by RSVP) to come. Currently people do not take RSVP seriously. Wedding planners and caterers have to be prepared for huge turnouts at wedding parties, with the danger that the food may run out. If attendance is lower than expected, that extra food is scrapped. Hosts have no idea how many will turn up at the wedding reception, and have to plan for both contingencies. They fear that they would lose face, and it would look so bad, if the food ran out.