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‘Are we audible?’: Newlywed techie couple attend reception online after IndiGo cancels flights

Medha Kshirsagar from Hubballi and Sangama Das from Bhubaneswar, both Bengaluru-based software engineers, were supposed to be welcomed at a reception at Gujarat Bhavan in Hubballi on Wednesday.

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Dec 5, 2025 04:31 PM IST

Newlywed techie couple reception online after IndiGo cancels flights

Their December 2 Bhubaneswar–Bengaluru–Hubballi trip was delayed from 9 am nonstop until the next morning, before being fully cancelled on December 3

In a rather unusual turn of events in Karnataka’s Hubballi, a couple ended up attending their own wedding reception virtually after IndiGo’s widespread flight cancellations left them stuck hundreds of kilometres away.

According to an PTI report, Medha Kshirsagar from Hubballi and Sangama Das from Bhubaneswar, both Bengaluru-based software engineers, were supposed to be welcomed at a reception at Gujarat Bhavan on Wednesday. The two had tied the knot in Bhubaneswar on November 23, and the Hubballi celebration was meant to be the formal post-wedding gathering for family and friends.

But things went off-script when the airline cancelled several flights amid an ongoing nationwide pilot shortage. The newlyweds had booked a Bhubaneswar-Bengaluru-Hubballi route for December 2, but their journey kept getting pushed from 9 am on Tuesday all the way into the next morning, only for the flight to be cancelled outright on December 3. Relatives travelling through other routes, such as Bhubaneswar-Mumbai-Hubballi, were also stranded.

With the hall decorated, guests already seated, and no real way to call off the function, the bride’s parents stepped in. They occupied the seats meant for the couple and performed the customary rituals, while Medha and Sangama, fully dressed in Bhubaneswar, logged in through video conference to greet everyone.

Speaking to PTI, the bride’s mother said, “The wedding took place on November 23, and we had planned the reception for December 3. But suddenly, at 4 am, the flight was cancelled… We felt very bad… After discussing as a family, we decided to have the couple attend the reception online.”

Watch the video:

A newly wed techie couple forced to attend their own reception online after their Indigo flights from Bhubaneswar-Hubbali were cancelled. The bride’s parents having already invited relatives decided to broadcast their live feed on a big screen. #IndigoDelay #FlightCancellations pic.twitter.com/jO7lTgm8lZ

— Deepak Bopanna (@dpkBopanna) December 5, 2025

Footage from the ceremony has since gone viral. Social media users reacted with humour and commentary, one joked, “First words of this newly wed couple… ‘are we audible?’”

Another user commented, “This proves that the reception and big wedding are actually for the parents, by the parents, for the guests. It’s peacocking in a way, but why think about it?”

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A third person wrote, “Modern problem solved by modern techniques.” A fourth individual added, “Let’s not blame the airline here for the couples poor planning. For such an important occasion they should have planned to be at the location at least 24 to 36 hours in advance. A buffer is always required.”

The ordeal unfolded against the backdrop of massive disruptions at IndiGo, which has cancelled hundreds of flights across major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Chennai. On Thursday alone, the airline scrapped over 500 flights, the highest in its 20-year history.

IndiGo told the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that the chaos stemmed from planning lapses while adapting to Phase 2 of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms. The airline warned that cancellations would continue until December 8 and that some services would be reduced beyond that, with normal operations expected only by February 10 next year.