Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and Scottish Parliament member Martyn Day has celebrated his marriage to his Kerala-born partner, Nidhin Chand, in a traditional ceremony at the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur, fulfilling her decade-long wish of having the wedding in the temple town.Although the couple had legally married in the UK in 2016, Chand had long hoped to complete the traditional rituals in Kerala, news agency PTI reported.Their plans were repeatedly delayed by events including the 2018 Kerala floods and the Covid-19 pandemic.The ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Pushpanjali Auditorium in Guruvayur and was attended by close family members and friends.
A long wait for a Kerala wedding
According to reports, Chand, who hails from the Piravom area of Ernakulam district, had made one wish when Day proposed to her: that they celebrate their wedding in Guruvayur before Lord Guruvayurappan.The couple had travelled to Kerala on several occasions, but circumstances repeatedly prevented them from holding the ceremony. After nearly 10 years, the wish was finally fulfilled during Day’s latest visit to the state.Day also shared photographs from the celebrations on social media, offering glimpses of the couple embracing Kerala’s traditional wedding customs.
Scottish politician embraces South Indian tradition
The 55-year-old politician was seen dressed in traditional Kerala attire, while Chand wore a kasavu saree for the ceremony.Day is a veteran SNP politician who has represented the Linlithgow area at local and national levels. He was first elected to West Lothian Council in 1999 and later served as the MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk from 2015 to 2024.He subsequently returned to elected office as a Member of the Scottish Parliament.
Who is Nidhin Chand?
Chand moved to the UK in 2008 to pursue higher education after completing a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. She later completed a master’s degree in IT management.During her PhD studies, changes to UK immigration rules affected the visas of thousands of international students, including Chand. She subsequently became involved in lobbying and represented the concerns of Indian students before parliamentary committees.It was during this period that she met Day, then an MP. Their initial interactions were professional, but their relationship developed over time. Day proposed to Chand in 2016, and the couple legally married in the UK the same year.Nearly a decade later, their long-delayed Kerala wedding has now given Chand the traditional ceremony she had wished for.
