My husband and I had an inter-caste love marriage against the wishes of our parents.
We both met when we were working at the same workplace and fell in love. We had known each other for almost five years, during which we tried convincing our parents about our marriage, but they were unwilling to relent. As we both were adults and financially independent, we went ahead and got married with a handful of close friends at the marriage registrar’s office. My parents accepted us, and we thought his parents would also do so eventually.
After six months of our marriage, during Diwali, we decided to visit my in-laws’ house, which was in a different city than ours. We wanted them to accept us and our marriage, so we took the first step in approaching them.
An Uber was called to our doorstep to take us to my in-laws’ house, which was around three hours away. As a new bride, I was very anxious to meet them. My husband sensed the disturbance in my heart, but even he couldn’t fathom the tension I was feeling inside.
We reached their house in the afternoon, nervously and skipping a heartbeat, and entered, only to see my in-laws not even looking at us or acknowledging our presence.
Just then, my husband’s younger sister welcomed us and offered us water to drink. At least she behaved warmly towards us. Seeing our in-laws’ behavior, we were quite disheartened. We went ahead and bowed down to touch their feet. They both patted their son’s, my husband’s, head and gave blessings to him but not to me.
My heart sank further, thinking about how I would spend the next few days with them in their house. Under the pretext of keeping our bags in our room, my husband took me inside, bolted the door, and hugged me tightly. Tears began to flow down my cheeks. I asked him, “What if they never accept me?”
“Time is the best healer. They will come around. Even if they don’t, then it is their problem, as you will always be my love, no matter what.” Saying this, he planted a kiss on my cheek.
I hugged him even more tightly and realized that even if I am rejected by my in-laws, I would always be the chosen one for my loving husband. I will tolerate their hatred for me if my husband supports me like a pillar and never stops loving me.
Note to readers: This is a fictional blog, but the content is real, as such kinds of prejudices do happen in our society. Religions are meant to unite us, not spread hatred and division amongst humankind. Inter-caste marriages must be seen as a way to promote harmony.
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Image Courtesy: Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
– Swati Mohandas
About the Author:
Swati Mohandas is a Philosophy graduate and a certified computer professional from Mumbai, based in Pune with her family for the last two decades. Literature has always fascinated her. She writes short stories, blogs, poems, and has ventured into freelance content writing. She has published an award-winning book of collected poems titled Myriad Whispers, available on Amazon. When she’s not writing, she enjoys listening to music, exploring the outdoors, and scanning local bookstores.
