“Arranging a Marriage in India” by Serena Nanda is a well written, informative article aimed at sharing the view of the Indian culture on arranged marriages and also showing how much effort is put into the process of arranging a marriage. Our own culture has evolved into accepting the fact that we are all independent individuals who could not imagine having someone else make such a significant decision for us. Serena Nanda does an excellent job of using her sources within the society as evidence of the acceptance of the arranged marriage aspect of their culture. The article begins by introducing general knowledge about arranged marriages in India. First is the proof of commonality. Arranged marriages are so customary that marriages not arranged …show more content…
To further support her acceptance of arrange marriages, the person that she will marry will not necessarily be a stranger because her parents examine her potential suitor’s and his family’s background. She readily trusts her parent’s judgement so she has no concerns about whether or not the man she will marry is “good”. To close her defensive statements, she explains that she will have her whole married life to get to know and love her husband, so she does not need to ruin the fun before it begins with dating. The author’s conversation with Sita was the first of many in the following months. Each conversation further altered Nanda’s opinion of the practice she once found oppressive. The author understands and agrees to an extent with arranged marriages after hearing of the benefits. Nanda explains that in India every aspect of succeeding in life is linked to your family. If someone was to go against the practice, they would be cutting their chances greatly of living a comfortable …show more content…
The next contender was not attractive enough in the mother’s eyes. As one after another was ruled out, the author realized this process was harder than she had thought. After leaving India with no luck, she returned two years later with no success. Before she left India, she gave the family the address to possible match. The next year, Nanda received a letter that the potential match had befriended the daughter of the family she was helping. At the end of the article, the author stated that the previous week she received an invitation to the wedding of the man and the woman she assisted in
has to go to the woman’s side and ask her parents for permission to be wed. The man has
In a scene the film Ravi goes to a wedding in India where a family member is being wedded. Ravi asked if he was happily marrying his wife, in love, and not having second doubts, all his family member expressed was no remorse, but it seemed as if it was something casual for him, it was necessary to marry, and that the bride he had chosen was approved from his parents, and the community of Patels. It seemed that throughout the film arrange marriage is viewed as normal in India, they don’t seem to ask their children if they’re happy about being arrangbeds into a marriage, it something that when you come of age you have to do. However in Indians living in America are challenging their parents and their cultures religion of arranged marriage. In America they are looking at the diverse cultures and falling love with people outside their culture, and making work, while others are still in the biodata and probably decided to marry into a Patel or other Indian name, yet still experienced dating other men before deciding. What was weird is that some Indian women don’t date until later in their college years when they are away because of the strict household their parents had and from fear of disappointing their family, and being
marriages that occur in India and the United States have several dramatic differences. Marriages in India are based solely on parental decisions, whereas in the United States a marriage is based on individualism. Who, why and how the spouse is chosen, is very different in both countries. Most Americans date to discover who their future spouse is going to be, and they know the person very well before marriage. In India, dating is not something that occurs. Most individuals in India do not have any interaction with the bride or groom prior to their wedding day, therefore, they do not personally know who they are marrying (Nanda 624). Though these differences exist, pros and cons reflect on each of them.
Second, the groom visits the bride’s parents at their house to talk with her parents about the marriage. The parents question the groom to see if he actually loves their daughter. The groom clarifies to the bride’s parents he meet their daughter and fell in love with her. The groom also says he knows their daughter like a recipe. In the end of the visit, the parents tell him to come back in a week.
In the book Arranged Marriage, I was intrigued with all the short stories it had. It was difficult to concentrate throughout the book without the interruption of tears in my eyes. Most of the stories deal with the experiences of the Indian women in arranged marriages. I did not admire any of the stories since most of them ended in a depressing marital experience. While arranged marriage is not commonly practiced in the United States, the women in both cultures deal with controlling husbands that reprimand their wives when they do not meet their expectations.
This paper is a brief summery for “Geographies of Marriage and Migration” by Raksha Pande and my response to the article. The article discusses the controversy of arranged marriages, why this culture favors them, the different ways of looking at them other than through a strictly Western view, and expresses the need for new research in this field. It focuses on South Asians in Britain, which include people of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi origin, East African Sikhs, and Gujaratis, some who migrated there and some who were Britain born. It debates the ways of looking at the arrangement of marriages depending on the viewpoint/generation but also provides other ways of looking at the positives of this structure of marriage. Pande also talks about the reasons why people tend to look down upon those who see to this type of marriage, and transnational arrangements of marriage. She discusses the myths/differences behind arranged
The first difference between American culture and Indian culture is marriage. A wedding is a great social event in our society, which establish a new bond between two individuals and families. Marriage is a joyful occasion with plenty of music, dance, partying and merrymaking. It also brings together a long-lost friends, relatives and acquaintances. In India, the parents choose the mate for their child, which is called an arranged marriage. In most cases, the bri...
The vast majority of the population is Hindu religion and its organization and its operation is based on the centuries-old tradition and intangible principles. Among these traditions and rules, marriage is central because it is the cornerstone of the harmonious development of the Hindu society. Marriage is primarily a union between two same-class families to sustain the economic continuity and maintain the Hindu Society 's balance.
Arranged marriage is much more effortless and like a short cut of love because the tedious and intricate process of maintaining the relationship and dating is omitted and they are under the influence of the same culture, share the same religious conviction and grow up in a similar social class. Individuals incline to an unvarnished and easeful lifestyle and the marriage does not occupy as the same ratio of life as five to ten years ago. On the one hand, boys may save the money which is used on dating because they do not need to buy too many things that pleased the girl. Moreover, in several circumstances, a date or a courtship is quite embarrassing and time-consuming especially for the adults who were forced to have a date under the pressure of their parents even from their grandparents. On the other hand, the spouse can cut down on the daily expense because their children will be nursed by their parents rather than babysitters and their children can live in a warm environment and a harmony atmosphere and feel more comfortable without strangers. Arranged marriages, according to the marriage experience of the parents and the marriage agency, alw...
The story I have chosen for my assignment is `Everything's Arranged' by Siew Yue Killingley. It is about arranged marriages practised by the Indian communities.The story is centered around Rukumani, a young maiden from the Ceylonese Tamil community whose family has settled in Malaya. Probably her father or grandfather was brought to this land by the British those days. Though Rukumani, is sent to study in the university (`MU' as stated in the story ), the thinking of her parents is just like how it was back in their motherland, Sri Lanka. The Ceylonese, however educated, still hold to their tradition, beliefs and family values so adamantly. Education failed to change their thinking. Social life is a taboo for their young sons what more for a daughter.
Nanda, S. (1998). Arranging a Marriage in India. In P. DeVita (Ed.), Stumbling toward truth: Anthropologists at work (pp. 196-204). Illinois, U.S: Waveland Press.
In general, arranged marriage has provided people fundamental principles about the importance of marriage and how a person can find happiness. Arranged marriage defines marriage between a man and a woman, which arranged by the couple 's parents and relatives based on family ties and traditions. Although marriage is described as the oldest and enduring human institution, the reasons for marrying have differed from culture to culture. In common circumstances, cultural, religious, economic, age, educational level, and racial factors play a role in determining who the person can marry and form which marriage takes. Some statistics find that the rate of divorce is low in arranged marriages and high in love marriages. For years,
As it turns out, most of the marriages that take place in India are arranged. Arranged marriages are a traditional practice in India, so you can find arranged marriages being practiced in all social classes. The parents of the individual play a big part in this tradition because they are the ones who choose a partner for the individual to marry. The parents must look into the family background of the future bride or groom to make sure that their sons/daughters marry into good families. Not only that, but they go beyond the family background and check the bachelors/bachelorettes out for themselves to make sure they make a good choice. Once a potential partner is chosen, the parents may or may not set up a quick meeting between the two individuals. In other extreme cases, the individuals do not meet at all before the wedding. It is also customary for the two families involved in the arranged marriage to exchange gifts.
Each marriage comes with a different perspective and story, whether it is an arranged marriage or love marriage. Arranged and Love marriages are very similar yet different. Love is the pure feeling of attachment. Arrange marriage is like a blind date in hopes to find love. It could be love at first sight or love after a while so in somewhat way they end up being a love marriage after all because the end result is the same as they get married or find love. In this essay there will be comparison done on love marriage and arrange marriage. Each country has a different perspective on each type of marriage. I will be comparing both marriages in America and India. Love Marriages come with a responsibility of their
Arranged marriages are traditional in South Asian society and continue to account for an overwhelming majority of marriages in the Indian subcontinent. Despite the fact that romantic love is "wholly celebrated" in both Indian mass media and folklore, and the arranged marriage tradition lacks any official legal recognition or support, the institution has proved to be "surprisingly robust" in adapting to changed social circumstances and has defied predictions of decline as India modernized. Arranged marriages are believed to have initially risen to prominence in the Indian subcontinent when the historical Vedic religion gradually gave way to classical Hinduism, substantially displacing other alternatives that were once more prominent.