Relationships

6 Challenges Couples Face In An Inter-Religious Marriage!

Difficult but not impossible!

BOUND BY DIFFERENT FAITHS

“I Do”, “Kabool Hai”, “Sowbhagyawati Bhava”; words in different languages but sounding equally sweet and carrying profound meaning. Marriages between persons of different faiths can be an exquisite combination of sweet and sour because it is not just the coming together of two souls in love; it is the merging of two cultures, the blending of two religions and the mingling of two diametrically different families.

POPPING THE QUESTION

Love is blind; it doesn’t conform to barriers like caste, creed and religion. But deciding to get married is a mammoth step forward and one that requires a lot of contemplation and consideration. “Even after Suresh proposed marriage, it took me a long time to take a decision because I come from a family of staunch Catholics and even the thought of getting married to a non Catholic was considered blasphemous,” recalls 30 something entrepreneur Susan Joseph, now happily married to Suresh, a Malayalee Hindu.

WEDDING CUSTOMS

Agreeing to get married is just half the work done; next come the customs and rituals. A wedding is a special day not only in the bride and the groom’s lives but also their families’. It is obvious that both would want the marriage performed as per their customs. 27 year old Chennai based process trainer Zyn Milan Sarvanan remembers with a laugh, “I am a Catholic and he is a Hindu. My parents wanted a church wedding while his parents wanted a Hindu ceremony. We decided to do both in succession and then we had to get our marriage registered too. It feels like I married the same guy thrice.”

Susan says she was lucky in that aspect. “My parents were insistent that they wanted a church wedding but although Suresh’s family would have preferred a Hindu ceremony they said they were fine with whatever their son decided. So we had a grand church wedding with the full family in attendance which worked out perfectly for me because I am not sure I would have been wholly comfortable with a temple wedding.”

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