As the country marked the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, a Canada-based couple recalled how their carefully planned wedding reception was reduced to a quiet candlelight dinner shared only with family.Dr Gursimran Kaur, a Ludhiana-based dentist, married Ramit Pal Singh, a lawyer from Jammu, on May 5, and the families had planned a reception in Jammu on May 8. Guests from Ludhiana, Phagwara and other cities were to reach a hotel in Jammu but most of them could not make it as there had been a drone strike, with Jammu being one of the main targets.”All ready for the function, we were heading towards the venue that evening at 7 pm when the police stopped us midway and did not allow us to proceed towards the hotel for the wedding function. We had to wait for sometime at a safe location but somehow managed to reach the hotel. Reaching the venue, we were told by the hotel staff that a blackout had been announced. No lights could be switched on. No music could be played and hence there could be no dance as we had all planned. The possibility of a firecracker show to make the reception look like a gala event was completely ruled out”, recalled father of the bride Surinder Pal Singh.”By that time, our guests from far and near had already started informing us that they would not be able to make it because of the situation going tense. Even our local relatives were telling us that the police had put up nakas and were not allowing us to reach the venue. We talked to our son-in-law, his family and the hotel staff on how things could be worked out in such a situation. The only thing we could plan at that time was a cake cutting and quiet candle-light dinner. In fact, it was not very quiet as there were sounds of interception of missiles and drones coming from outside and we were all damn scared. The hotel staff were hospitable and ensured our safe comfort and stay all night. That is how it all ended up on a good, memorable note”, he said.Surinder Pal Singh added, “The next thing that we decided at the dinner was to plan a safe, early exit back to Ludhiana and a quick return of the couple back to Canada, from where both had come for a ‘gala, dreamy wedding’. Both flew back within six days.”