Last year, a video of a woman writing an exam while dressed in her wedding lehenga went viral online. Shivangi Bagatharia was filmed wearing a red lehenga, bridal jewellery and a full face of makeup as she took her exam. Shivangi, who is from Rajkot in Gujarat, has opened up about the circumstances that led to her one-of-a-kind exam outfit in an interview with Humans of Bombay.
In her interview, Shivangi explained that education had always been her priority and she was inspired by her mother.
“When Mummy got married to Papa, she was still in her 2nd year of college,” she said. “She got pregnant a few months later; she had to stop studying. But she wanted to get back to it. I was 8 when she began attending classes to finish her degree.”
Shivangi Bagatharia and her brother would wait outside the exam hall while their mother wrote her exam. “Since then, it was imprinted in my mind that education always comes first.”
Inspired by her mother, Shivangi focussed on academics and was usually among the top three students of her class. “After I graduated, I wanted to open my own NGO… So in 2018, I started pursuing a degree in Social Work.”
It was around this time that Shivangi met Parth through an arranged marriage set up. “The first time I met Parth, I said, ‘I want to follow my dreams. I won’t compromise on that.’ And he said, ‘I want to do the same!’ The more we talked, the more I liked him,” she says.
The wedding date was set and preparations were in full swing when Shivangi received the news that her exam would take place on the day of her wedding.
“even in my worst nightmare, I hadn’t imagined that my exam date would be the same as my wedding day! When I found out, the first person I called was Parth. I’d just begun telling him about it when he cut me off and said, ‘You can’t skip your exams, they’re important!’” she revealed.
The pandit was called to push the wedding muhurat from morning to afternoon, and Shivangi spent the night before her exam/wedding in the parlour. “I arrived at the parlour at 2am. I studied as they prepped me,” she says.
When she walked into the classroom at 10.30 am, dressed in her bridal finery, her classmates were “flabbergasted”. Shivangi’s teacher, however, commended her for putting education above all else.
After the two-hour exam, Shivangi and Parth rushed to their wedding – which was scheduled for 1 pm. “I arrived at the mandap with just enough time to spare,” she says.
“As hectic as it was, it was also the most beautiful day of my life. During the ceremony, Parth told me, ‘You inspire me!’” Shivangi says.
It’s been six months since the wedding and Shivangi is expecting her first child with her husband - “but that hasn’t pushed the brakes on my dreams,” she says.
“In fact, I’m even more motivated now—I want to set a good example for my child. The example that it’s only after you work on yourself that you can be more for others—always fill your own cup first!”
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