Kerala Man Opens ‘Dress Bank’ So Underprivileged Brides Can Fulfil Their Wedding Dreams. We Love This!
I never really was one to sit and care about having a big wedding day. I personally am not close to many of my relatives and don’t see the point of inviting them to a day which is so special to me. However, I also admit that I wouldn’t mind chipping a few extra bucks on my dress itself. Admittedly, I am not some fashionista and most of my choices tend to be pretty basic and plain, but I understand and enjoy the hype of a good outfit at one’s wedding. Hence, I get why people like going all out for this and kinda feel bad for those that dream but can’t afford to splurge that much on a wedding dress. However, there is a solution to this problem as this Kerala man has opened a ‘dress bank’ to help poor girls wear something special on their wedding day.
Nasar Tootha, a cab driver from the Thootha village in the Malappuram district of India’s southern state of Kerala. His dress bank has helped around 260 underprivileged brides with free wedding dresses. He used Facebook and Whatsapp last year and started requesting people to donate their wedding dresses to him for the cause. He slowly got popular and started receiving more donations. Tootha said, “Wedding attires are all about vanity. They are worn for a few hours and then never come out of the cupboards. Realising this, many families came forward to support our cause,” to Al Jazeera. And, he isn’t wrong.
The Kerala man said that if the bride and her family don’t have the means to travel to his dress bank, he gets it delivered to them through a network of volunteers. He doesn’t ask them for the dresses back but does encourage that they pass them on to others in need. This is so thoughtful!
He has received donations from all over Kerala which he dry cleans and packs in air-tight packages. He then stores them at his home. He says that it is God’s grace that he doesn’t have to personally invest money to run the dress bank and can just be a channel to save women in need. His bank currently has 800 dresses ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹ 50,000; suited to brides from almost every religion- Hindu, Muslim or Christian.
Also Read: Kerala High Court Rules That Gifts Given By Parents For Daughter’s Welfare Are Not Dowry
Not only from Kerala but Tootha also started receiving dresses from the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also the NRI community who reside in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. A Mumbai based woman took Tootha’s help and got a pink Banarasi silk saree from his dress bank. She had no money to travel to Kerala and chose it over a video call. The dress was delivered to her within a week. She said that her father and uncle passed away when the Delta variant hit. She also lost her job as a school teacher. Her mother who cooks food in 4 homes is currently the only working member of the family. They had already spent ₹5,000 on food and venue and hence had no money left to buy her wedding dress. When the packet arrived, she was overjoyed. Her mother and she broke down and hugged each other. This is so heartwarming!
Tootha stated his reason for starting a cause like this, “After returning from Saudi Arabia, I was helping state agencies rehabilitate the poor and homeless. During that period, I met many families who were struggling to arrange wedding dresses for their daughters, which are usually expensive. So I decided to help them.”
When asked if he plans to stock up bridesgroom dresses, the Kerala man laughed and said that he hasn’t received any requests yet but would consider it if he does. Other than his taxi, Tootha also runs an ambulance service and makes rides free for those who can’t afford him. He said he helped many underprivileged families to take transport their dead relatives to crematoriums during the pandemic.
Nasar Tootha is genuinely the personification of the phrase “faith in humanity, restored.” something like a wedding dress might not be considered a necessity and yes, people can surely be helped with stuff that is much more important or practical. But something as ‘trivial’ as a new wedding dress can make someone’s big day. And at the end of it, isn’t this just about spreading joy?
Featured Image Credits: Al Jazeera
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