The newlyweds : rearranging marriage in modern India

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Choksi, Mansi

Edition:

First Atria Books hardcover edition.

Physical Description:

xi, 267 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Summary:

"In India, there are 650 million people under the age of 35. These are men and women who grew up with the Internet, and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they're expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It's that tension between obeying tradition and accepting modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi's THE NEWLYWEDS-also signaling the arrival of a major literary talent. Through gorgeous, lyrical prose, Choksi shines a light on three young couples who buck against arranged marriages in the pursuit of true love. Choski illustrates the challenges, shame, anger, triumph, and loss their collective actions set in play. Against the backdrop of India's beautiful villages, mountains, and cities, Choksi introduces readers to: Reshma & Preeti, a lesbian couple forced to flee town for a chance at a life together-all while the headstrong Reshma continues to convince Preeti their love is right and unconquerable: to Monika & Arif, a Hindu woman and Muslim man leaving their families behind in the cover of night as they and their loved ones are harassed by the "Love Commandos," a violent militia group (implicitly sanctioned by Narendra Modi) whose chief aim is to prevent all interfaith marriages: and to Neetu & Dawinder, an inter-caste couple who, despite learning about a similar couple being burned alive for their "crime," resolve to work towards a different fate. Ultimately, while thousands of miles separate the principal characters from readers, the questions their pursuits ask are universal. Specifically: What are we really willing to risk for love? If we're lucky enough to find it, does it change us? If so, for the better? Or for the worse? The answers to these questions vary upon the three couples, but their collective fight allows readers into a world whose customs and traditions are rarely discussed-or questioned"--

Contents:

Introduction -- Kakheri -- The love commandos -- Snakes and mongooses -- Right wrong, wrong right -- I am Reshma -- You look to me, I look to you -- Dirty children -- Manoj and Babli -- Love jidah -- A delicate world toppled - A free life -- Take me as I am -- Within yourself make patience the bow -- Love marriage = destroy life -- Objects in the mirror -- Sorry, wrong number -- A matter of price -- How to say it -- Afterword.

Subject Term:

Marriage -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Love -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Couples -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Elopement -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Publication Info:

New York : Atria Books, 2022.

Subject:

Marriage -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Love -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Couples -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Elopement -- India -- History -- 21st century.

Married life

Matrimony

Nuptiality

Wedlock

Affection

Secret marriage

SAILS ISBN:

9781982134440

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	306.81 CHO 2022	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Richards Memorial Library	306.81 C452	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Taunton Public Library	306.810954 C452N	2ND FLOOR STACKS	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A literary investigation into India as a society in transition through the lens of forbidden love, as three young couples reject arranged marriages and risk everything for true love in the midst of social and political upheaval.

In India, two out of every three people are under the age of thirty-five. These are men and women who grew up with the internet and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they're expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It's that conflict between obeying tradition and embracing modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi's The Newlyweds.

Through vivid, lyrical prose, Choksi shines a light on three young couples who buck against arranged marriages in the pursuit of true love, illustrating the challenges, shame, anger, triumph, and loss their actions and choices set in play.

Against the backdrop of India's beautiful villages and cities, Choksi introduces our newlyweds. First, there's the lesbian couple forced to flee for a chance at a life together. Then there's the Hindu woman and Muslim man who escaped their families under the cover of night after being harassed by a violent militia group. Finally, there's the inter-caste couple who are doing everything to avoid the same fate as a similar couple who were burned alive.

Engaging and moving, The Newlyweds raises universal questions, such as: What are we really willing to risk for love? If we're lucky enough to find it, does it change us? If so, for the better? Or for the worse?

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Journalist Choksi debuts with an engrossing study of traditional matchmaking and modern youth in India. Despite a population that skews young (two-thirds of adults are below age 35), arranged marriage is widely accepted in India, largely due to considerations of caste and religion. Choksi, whose mother married for love and later divorced, explores whether a marriage in her native country can endure if it is "tainted with shame" by deviating from the norm. She spotlights three rebellious couples, including village neighbors Dawinder and Neetu, whose elopement in 2016 was enabled by the Love Commandos, a vigilante group whose mission is to provide shelter for runaway couples. Arif, a Muslim, and Monika, a Hindu, married after Monika became pregnant and faced violent threats from supporters of prime minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party. Meanwhile, LGBTQ couple Reshma and Preethi fled to Mumbai, where they grew apart despite being supported by the lesbian community. Choksi fluidly traces the path each couple navigated from parental home to independence and persuasively analyzes the economic, religious, and cultural stresses they endured. This is a heart-wrenching and inspiring portrait of love under pressure. (Aug.)

Kirkus Review

A Dubai-based writer follows three couples in India as they pursue romantic relationships that subvert dearly held community norms. In a village in the northern state of Haryana, Dawinder Singh, the Sikh son of a truck driver, fell in love with his neighbor Neetu Rani, the daughter of a well-respected family in the village. When the two eloped, they sought the help of self-described "Love Commando" Sanjoy Sachdev, who swindled them out of their savings. In the western state of Maharashtra, Hindu Monika Ingle fell in love with Muslim Arif Dosani. When Monica became pregnant, she converted to Islam to secretly marry Arif and to circumvent the public comment period associated with the Special Marriages Act that would have allowed their interfaith union. On the border of Telangana and Maharashtra, Reshma Mokenwar fell in love with her distant relative Preeti Sarikela. The two women pretended to live as sisters to protect themselves from India's homophobic legal system. The families of these couples opposed the unions largely because they could serve to disrupt systems of class, caste, and religion that are designed to safeguard hierarchies of power. "The goal of marriage is to cement those boundaries to ensure the survival of power hierarchies because we are a society that places greater emphasis on collectivism than individualism," writes Choksi. "We derive our identities from the groups we belong to; our daily lives and our politics are arranged around them. When young people choose their own partners, we threaten order with chaos." The author skillfully uses these human stories to highlight the dangerous trajectory of Hindu fundamentalism under the regime of current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her descriptions are rife with detail and, at times, truly lyrical. However, the couples' stories end abruptly, rendering Choksi's overall argument difficult to discern and the narrative frustratingly open-ended. A moving and largely well-reported account of love in modern India. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

In this book, Dubai-based journalist Choksi examines India as a society in transition through the lens of contemporary marriage. Choksi writes that marriages in India are traditionally arranged according to intricate rules by the couple's families; however, some couples choose to defy tradition and marry for love. She follows three Indian couples as they navigate marriage: Neetu and Dawinder, who are forbidden to marry based on traditional rules of their community; Monika and Arif, who belong to different religions; and Reshma and Preethi, who are lesbians. For each couple, Choksi shows how they met and made the decision to get married. Additionally, she focuses on the reactions and responses from their families which range from acceptance to violence; since these couples are breaching cultural taboos, they run the risk of punishment or even murder by their families and communities. Finally, Choksi chronicles the highs and lows of the marriages, as the couples navigate stress points such as jobs, children, estrangement, unscrupulous actors and domestic violence. The book includes background information regarding Indian laws around arranged marriages, religious conflict, honor killings, and same-sex marriages to inform unfamiliar readers. VERDICT An interesting and highly readable examination of the complexities and intersections of love, marriage, and tradition in India.--Rebekah Kati

Excerpts

Chapter 1: Kakheri Excerpted from The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India by Mansi Choksi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Cast of Characters	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Part 1
Chapter 1 Kakheri	p. 7
Chapter 2 The Love Commandos	p. 19
Chapter 3 Snakes and Mongooses	p. 31
Chapter 4 Right Wrong, Wrong Right	p. 47
Chapter 5 I Am Reshma	p. 63
Chapter 6 You Look to Me, I Look to Y'ou	p. 75
Part 2
Chapter 7 Dirty Children	p. 89
Chapter 8 Manoj and Babli	p. 101
Chapter 9 Love Jihad	p. 113
Chapter 10 A Delicate World Toppled	p. 127
Chapter 11 A Free Life	p. 141
Chapter 12 Take Me as I Am	p. 153
Part 3
Chapter 13 Within Yourself Make Patience the Bow	p. 167
Chapter 14 Love Marriage = Destroy Life	p. 179
Chapter 15 Objects in the Mirror	p. 191
Chapter 16 Sorry, Wrong Number	p. 205
Chapter 17 A Matter of Pride	p. 219
Chapter 18 How to Say It	p. 231
A Note on Sources	p. 243
Afterword	p. 245
Acknowledgments	p. 251
Credits	p. 253
Index	p. 255

Available:

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review

Excerpts

Excerpts

Table of Contents