Thiruvananthapuram: If there was no lockdown, the quintuplets (five children in one birth) of ‘Pancharatnam’ House at Nannattukavu in Pothencode in Kerala would have entered a new phase of life as four of them were to enter wedlock the same day and at the same venue on Sunday, Apr. 26.

The four girls of the quintuplets named Uthraja, Uthra, Uthara and Uthama were to get married under the auspices of their only brother Uthrajan. They are children of Ramadevi and late Premakumar. The wedding ceremony was to take place at Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple.

Uthra, who is a fashion designer, was to tie the knot with Ayoor native K. S. Ajith Kumar, a hotel manager in Muscat. Uthraja, an anaesthesia technician at Kochi Amrita Medical College, was to marry Pathanamthitta native Akash, who is also an anaesthesia technician in Kuwait. An online journalist, Uthara was to marry Kozhikode native journalist Mahesh. Uthama, an anaesthesia technician at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, was to tie the knot with Vattiyoorkavu native Vineeth, an accountant in Muscat. Their lone brother Uthrajan is an IT professional.

But the lockdown played the spoilsport. However, the family is hopeful of realising their dream once the lockdown is over. Ramadevi said that almost all arrangements were done and many people were invited to marriage. A single invitation card was prepared for all the weddings.

But since three of the bridegrooms are working abroad and could not reach home so far and two of the brides are working in medical field, the families of the bridegrooms also agreed to postpone all the four marriages to another date.

After the unexpected death of Premakumar when the children were only 9 years old, Ramadevi struggled hard to raise them with an ailing heart. She is living with a pacemaker. The Government granted job to Ramadevi in District Cooperative Bank in Pothencode branch. Thus she managed to live peacefully with the children.

The quintuplets were born in November 1995 at SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram with only minutes apart. As they were born on ‘Uthram’ day, they were given names adding the day. Keralites were eager to know every milestone in their life such as first day at school, victory in exams, first vote and the like.