In 1994, Dilip Popley and his wife made headlines when they had a “wedding in the sky”, transforming an Air India flight into a marriage venue.
Nearly three decades later, on Friday, their daughter Vidhi embarked on the same journey, tying the knot with Hridesh Sainani in an airborne marriage ceremony described by the Indian mogul as a sequel to his own.
The Popley family runs and operates a network of jewellery and diamond outlets in the UAE and India.
About 350 wedding guests, mostly friends and relatives of the Popleys, boarded a Boeing 747 aircraft at a Jetex private terminal in Dubai South. Dressed in colourful lehengas and sleek kurtas, the guests were bursting with excitement, smiling and waving while intermittently breaking out into foot-tapping Hindi tunes.
Before boarding the plane, there was a baraat, or wedding procession for the groom, which involved four dhol players and a DJ to set the mood. Wearing a heavily patterned white and gold kurta, Sainani was greeted by his bride at the entrance of the terminal.
The Popley heiress donned a red bridal lehenga, with a heavy-looking elaborate skirt, a matching choli and an embroidered dupatta draped over her head. Of course, her accessories were over the top: a prominent necklace featuring diamonds and pearls.
Although the couple had been attending pre-wedding functions (from sangeet to pheras) for the past eight weeks, they did not look stale. Still, thankfully, Friday's on-air affair is the last in their jampacked schedule of Sikh wedding traditions.
The aircraft was slightly modified for the ceremony, with each section of the plane fixed with a small projector so everyone could watch. Only close friends and family were allowed in the section where the ceremony took place.
There, the bride and groom sat on the floor in front of a Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture in Sikhism. In this most crucial part of the wedding ceremony, Sikh musicians recite a marriage prayer.
While that was taking place, wedding guests were treated to a slightly elevated version of a flight meal, including the standard bread and butter, as well as vegetable jhalfrazi, mushroom pulao, palak paneer and dal masala.
Everyone was in celebratory mood, singing songs and occasionally shouting the couple's names. Many of the guests flew to the UAE specifically for the ceremony, including mother and daughter Priya and Khushi Jeet Bhatia, who live in Singapore and Spain, respectively.
After the three-hour round trip, many of the guests went straight to a post-wedding soiree.
Although the couple were the main event of the ceremony, it was especially poignant for Popley, who lives in Dubai and is currently the managing director of the family business.
“I had the same wedding in the sky 28 years back. At that time we thought we would have done something in space by now,” he told The National. “So right now we are doing a sequel featuring my daughter.”
Asked why they chose Dubai for the momentous occasion, Popley calls the emirate his home.
“I can't think of any other place, really. Dubai is my home and Dubai can fulfil all dreams.”
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs: 2018 Maserati Ghibli
Price, base / as tested: Dh269,000 / Dh369,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 355hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.9L / 100km
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