About the Book
The wedding is the most celebrated event in Indian society. It forms the heart of a multi-billion-dollar industry driving fashion, food, music, entertainment and our desire for companionship.
In The Shaadi Story, social entrepreneur Amita Nigam Sahaya takes a keen look at the history, religious traditions, societal attitudes, and modern adaptations of the North Indian Hindu wedding and beyond. Across seven chapters structured like the traditional ritual of the saptapadi, this book illuminates the seven different aspects of the quintessential Indian wedding. Drawing on ancient Sanskrit scriptures, western philosophies, Bollywood movies and the voices of young Indians, this book is an in-depth examination of the ever-evolving ideas of love and relationships through the prism of our society's most elaborate celebration.
Enlightening and entertaining, The Shaadi Story is a remarkable exploration of Indian weddings and marriages and what makes them tick.
About the Author
Amita Nigam Sahaya is a social entrepreneur and gender activist. She is the director and founder of three NGOS including the Women Work & Health Initiative. She has authored and edited seven books on women and gender issues and translated to English the Hindi classic Jhansi ki Rani, Lakshmibai by her great-grandfather Vrindavanlal Verma.
Amita is co-founder of the Sweden India Gender Network (SIGN) and of India and Beyond (a dialogue series), and has established two community education and development centres for the underprivileged in Delhi.
Preface
Every book has a memory spurring its writing. Mine is located Ein a childhood event, whose actual sequence though blurred, had a deep and lasting emotional impact on me. It happened during my aunt's wedding decades ago, and forever since, I have seen every wedding beyond the haze of its partying and merry-making symbolism, for the traditions that are at its core. The power dynamics between the boy-wallahs and girl-wallahs, the spin-offs, the matchmaking, the social equation what the bride takes with her and what it means to be given away, marriage as a rite of passage in the life of the bride, the groom and also their parents and finally, the tidal course of the moolah steering the wedding along its grandiose path.
