Ahmedabad, Apr 24: Instead of going for a pompous ceremony, an IAS officer from Gujarat opted for a simple platform for his marriage and was one of the 35 men who tied the knot at a mass wedding ceremony in Bhiloda taluka today.
 Vijay Kharadi, who cleared his IAS exams in 2009 and presently posted as Deputy Collector in Narmada district, married Seema Garasia at a simple function organised by his tribal Dungri Garasia community.
 Hailing from tribal dominated Khedbhrama taluka of Sabarkantha district, the 28-year old Kharadi tied the knot with Seema, a tribal woman from Vijayanagar of the same district, on Akshaya Tritiya day today, family sources said.
 Avoiding a pompous ceremony, Kharadi preferred to keep his big day a low key affair with only close family friends invited to the venue.
 "My brother is tying the knot today at a simple mass wedding ceremony being held in Sabarkantha," Shirish Kharadi, brother of the groom told PTI.
 "Spending on extravagant weddings is sheer waste of money. My brother wished to set an example by getting married at a simple ceremony," he said.
 Vijay Kharadi's mentor at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA), J M Acharya said "Vijay is tying a knot at a very simple ceremony being held near his home town. He hasn't changed one bit after he became an IAS officer... He is the same down to earth Vijay I knew."
 He (Vijay) had joined SPIPA in 2006 and cleared IAS in 2009, he said adding that prior to coming here he had done BE-Computers from a leading private university in the state.
 "Never deterred by challenges in life, Vijay cleared the IAS examination in third attempt, and since then the only change I see in him is that he has become more innovative in what he does," Acharya said.

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