In Bihar, groom lands in chopper

The hundred-odd people of Salempur in Gopalganj district, taking part in the wedding of a girl from their village, rubbed their eyes in disbelief as they saw the bridegroom alighting from a helicopter.

More surprise was in store. The chopper, after airdropping the bridegroom, Pankaj Srivastava,  made nine sorties to fetch the entire groom’s party, who were put up in the adjoining village of Harpur Tengrahi, seven kilometers from the wedding venue. Almost the entire village made a beeline to watch what to them was nothing less than a spectacle. The wedding was of Pankaj Srivastava with Ranjita, daughter of a local, Bipin Lal Srivastava.
After the wedding, the helicopter flew back to the groom’s house carrying the newly wed couple and others.

“It was my dream since childhood to fly in a chopper,” said Pankaj, who till a few years ago, used to run a grocery shop in Harpur Tengrahi. But after luck smiled on him, he shifted base to Haryana, where he now owns an industrial unit in Gurgaon.
Yet Pankaj remains indebted to his home state. “I love my state. That is why, out of total 480 employees in my company, 462 belong to Bihar,” he said.
And for those who were bemused by his chopper ride, Pankaj said, “In Gurgaon, the use of chopper during the wedding season is common. In Bihar, it could be a new beginning.”