Forty Rishtas and Forty Noes
Shreya, 33, a surgeon in Mumbai, has turned down 40 proposals since 2017. She talks about why, what her parents say now, and the one she still thinks about.
Three Meetings and a Yes
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Show notes
This week
Ananya starts with herself. In 2019 her mother circulated a biodata, a family in Nashik replied, and she met Nikhil three times before saying yes. She was 27 and not sure. Nikhil was 29 and also not sure. They are still married.
- The biodata: what her mother wrote and what Ananya would have cut
- Meeting one, with parents in the next room and the door open
- Meetings two and three, alone, and the question Nikhil asked that decided it
- Falling in love after the wedding, which took about a year
- What they argued about in year two that nobody warned them about
Next week: a woman in Mumbai who said no to 40 rishtas and what it cost her family.
Transcript
Namaste, I am Ananya Deshpande, and this is After the Rishta Aunty Leaves, a show about arranged marriage as it actually happens, not the horror story and not the fairy tale. I had an arranged marriage in 2019. I met my husband Nikhil three times before I said yes, and if I am honest, I was not sure when I said it. I thought this show should begin with my own story before I ask anyone else for theirs. So today you will hear about the biodata my mother wrote without telling me, the first meeting with both sets of parents in the next room, and the one question Nikhil asked at the third meeting that decided it. Then Nikhil comes in to tell you his version, which is different from mine. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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