Of Indian marriages....

Crossing borders

Marriage is a complicated affair in India and inter-caste marriages are not only complicated but invite new problems as well. Author Chetan Bhagat has sought to air his thoughts on this in his new work. Chetan delves into his own marriage in his recent Two States: The Story of My Marriage to examine the phenomenon of inter-caste marriages in the country.

“There are things that you want to tell your readers as an author. It traces the path of courtship and then marriage and reiterates the need for more such inter-caste marriage to inculcate a sense of belonging among the people,” he said.

Chetan advocates that people must marry outside their community for a better and a more progressive nation. The child born out of such marriages becomes an Indian and isn’t associated with any particular caste, creed or religion. “This will help reduce prejudice which is in keeping with the national interest of the country. Children born out of a homogeneous community are stronger, prettier and will lead to the rapid progress of a country because they will not attempt to divide the country,” he says.

And understandably, Chetan has dedicated the book to his parents-in-law with whom he says he’s had his share of fun at their expense. “The book is 25 per cent about boy-girl love thing and 75 per cent about the hard time the young have in convincing their parents that their chosen one is perhaps the right one,” he says.

The common notion that North Indian parents have of a South Indian girl is that she has trapped their son and typical South Indian parents believe that their MBA daughter could have got a better match, he observes. He avers that only weddings in the country generate so much heat. People dress up, dance, flirt, wear loads of make-up and it is one occasion where people to just go out, let go and have fun.

He reasons that most people are looking for love and hoping they find that one person who would make that difference to their life but that one person never really exists but hope never dies. “I hope there would be more inter-caste marriages where the couple keep the best of both cultures and make a brand new one,” he signs off.