“To say that Indians are obsessed with the idea of marriage is an understatement” is the opening sentence by Dr. Aparajita Jeedigunta on her article about Indian and Indian-American culture and its relationship with matrimony (Jeedigunta). The Indian wedding is one of the most important and extravagant events within a given family. Influenced by Bollywood and India’s richest residents, Indians and Indian-Americans strive to have some of the flashiest weddings around (Lal). Culturally, making sure your children are married soon and to the right people is paramount to parents’ claim to fame (Administrator). Not only must children be completely focused on education and their career but must also be wed before hitting the early 30s. If a child is not married by then, peers begin to view the parents as being neglectful (Administrator).
The current social structure of marriage in Indian culture stems from old customs and traditions. However, there is tension within Indian immigrant households in the United States. Children growing up in the States start to embrace popular American culture and attitude towards marriage and social life. Being completely different from one another, Indian and American culture clash. Immigrant Indian parents were raised to believe that the children must be married young, to people within their religion or race as well as social class (Administrator). Indian-Americans tend to view this as old fashioned. They feel that the priorities of the parents are counterproductive to their social development (Jeedigunta). In some homes, dowries and arranged marriages prosper and neglect to recognize the opinions of the child.
Additionally, the expenses of these weddings are cause for concern. Due to the extravagance of the event, many families must resort to loans and pile on debt to achieve the right look. The Indian wedding is a time to flaunt wealth and class to guestlists of hundreds. As part of social status, some weddings are cancelled (Lal). If all needs are not met, some families call off weddings and relationships altogether. Due to the idea that women leave the family after marriage, they are viewed as a liability for a family’s expenses. Therefore, the family of the groom has more say in what the wedding should be like. The men are thought to be an investment in the future of the family (Lal). These power dynamics, mixed with all other expectations, have proven to be a large issue with Indian-Americans who are caught between two cultures.
Works Cited
Administrator, grandforksherald. “Dating and Marriage: Tradition Meets Tension in Indian-American Homes.” Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks Herald, 23 Jan. 2010, www.grandforksherald.com/news/2118215-dating-and-marriage-tradition-meets-tension-indian-american-homes.
Jeedigunta, Aparajita. “The Indian-American Marriage Conundrum.” The Indian SCENE, 1 July 2019, theindianscene.com/health/the-indian-american-marriage-conundrum/.
Lal, Neeta. “The Financial Burden of Weddings on India’s Poorest Families.” Arts and Culture News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 31 Jan. 2021, www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/1/31/the-financial-burden-of-weddings-on-indias-poorest-families.
Hello, the topic is really interesting. I think the India marriage is a little like that of Chinese marriage that costs a lot. In fact, I have heard of the Indian marriage. I also have one Indian or middle-easten friends who have arranged marriage. It is quite interesting for me. I think the new generation of Indian Americans might have their own opinions on marriage.
Thank you for this enlightening context presentation. Your research really highlights how American culture can clash with other cultures, making it difficult for people to uphold their cultural traditions. I also think that this conflict of cultures can play a role in the identity shift or distortion of individuals who partake in other cultural traditions while in America.
I enjoyed your post, as I am looking and planning my wedding, I see how people who are our parents age care so much more for tradition that we as younger people never thought of. Sometimes its important to know what the traditions were, but people should embrace the newness and uniqueness of our generations too.
Hi, I really enjoyed your post. It’s very enlightening to learn about different cultures and what they do for specific events like weddings and how that differs from American ones. I’m super interested in this idea because I once went to an Indian sweet sixteen party and it was the most extravagant, fun party I have ever been to and will probably ever experience. I love the fact that different cultures do things in different ways, but there is always the problem of clashing cultures and how to balance traditional values with new ones.
Hi Joseph, I found your presentation really helpful. I think your explanation of the cultural norms for marriage was helpful because it is totally different from the norms of American weddings. I found it interesting to see the differences between the two cultures such as the grooms family having more say in the wedding itself because the men are an investment.
Thank you for the great post Joseph! This topic is something that has intrigued me for some time, so it was very interesting to learn more about it. Most of the Indian-Americans that I have known did not have much of a connection to these old traditions, which seems to be a common trend in the current cultural climate. I found the connection to marriage being an investment to be especially interesting because I had not heard of that comparison before.
Hey Joseph, this was a great post. I’ve always been intrigued by Indian/Hindu culture and the role of marriage. I think it’s empowering that Indian-Americans have more of a choice in their martial partners. It will be interesting how the new generation of Indian-Americans approaches marriage and what customs they include/disclude.
This was a great topic to present for this week’s reading. I was unaware that weddings mean such a great deal to Indian culture. Thinking about this makes me wonder how COVID has affected much of the celebrations that are custom to Indian culture. I have also noticed while reading that many of the characters in the stories have either marriage problems or are newlywed, which also makes this topic very relevant to the reading. Great job!