Rabia Bano was frustrated as her daughter's wedding approached and she had no money to buy a bridal dress.
According to Arab News, two weeks before the wedding in early December, an unexpected source came to their aid when a charity run by a taxi driver reached out to help the poor family.
Nasir Totha's 'dress bank' helps people who can't afford bridal dresses for their daughters.Colorful wedding ceremonies in India last for many days, however for many families these celebrations bring a lot of social and financial pressure, however they cannot bear it.
A bridal dress can cost as little as ڈالر 40 or even thousands of dollars.
However, even a modest bridal dress can be very expensive for poor families. Poor families are often forced to take out loans which they repay over the years.
The bride's family usually pays for the wedding. Bano and her husband, who work for wages in a village in southern Tamil Nadu, knew they could not afford to buy a wedding dress for their daughter.
"My husband works as a waiter in a restaurant in the village and we both earn at least three dollars a day," Rabia Bano told Arab News.
"We can't afford to buy a bridal dress," he said.
On December 13, Rabia Bano married her daughter, on which her daughter also wore a special bridal dress, but it did not cost her a single rupee.
His daughter's wedding dress came from Malappuram district in the nearby state of Kerala, where Nasir Totha, 38, does charity work.
Rabia Bano said, "I got the wedding dress for my daughter in three days without paying the transport expenses and money."
His family is one of more than 300 families who have benefited from the "dress bank" of Nasir Totha's wedding.
Nasir Totha, a taxi driver, donates wedding dresses. He started this work two years ago.
Speaking to Arab News, he said he had met families who could not afford to buy a wedding dress for their daughters. So the idea came to help them.
Nasir Totha appeals to rich families through social media to help in this work.
Nasir Totha's shop has 600 wedding couples, while more donors are now offering to help.
In the area where the bride lives, Nasir Totha sends the wedding dress through volunteers and bus drivers.
"The locals help me and appreciate my work," he said. I enjoy it. "
"It's a joy to have a smile on the face of a newlywed bride," he says.
