'Eloping is not an easy choice': Real-life love story

TO DO NOT TO 'I DO': What is the right course of action when parents oppose love?

Other stories in the section:

1980s voted as the ‘coolest’ decade in past 50 years

The The top 10 things that made 80s the coolest decade are...

• 'Britney started drinking at 13, lost virginity at 14'

• Thinking too much could lead to obesity

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Tale of Two Azmis

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• What women want? Liberty or marriage
• Inter-caste marriages: Love wrong, parents right?
• India 360: Hindu-Muslim love story

Keywords: Relationships, Inter-caste Marriage

After having written the feature on inter-caste marriages – ‘Inter-caste marriages: Is love wrong or parents right?’ – one realized it was not going to be an easy choice. Readers also got into a heated debate in the comments section. On one hand are the parents/family who have cared and loved you since birth and on the other hand is the future with the person you love and want to create a family with. Is it selfish to give up one family to make another? Are you letting your parents down?

With as little literary liberty as possible, this story is a real-life story, with names changed to protect identities. However, this feature does not promote or suggest that you do the same.. Every situation and every family is different. Base your decisions and judgments on the facts at hand and be prepared for the repercussions. You might get a new family and you might never speak to your parents or current family again…

The Story

He (let’s call him Amit) had first seen Her (Nisha) in college, or they had seen each other, the details over the last 10 years have grown fuzzy. Amit remembers though that Nisha was wearing a salwar-kameez, nothing spectacular, except that she stood very straight and carried herself with a poise that usually befits someone older, not a 19-year-old. Neither of them was your textbook idea of good looking, yet both had an innate confidence. They were in the same class.

Their first conversation was in the college canteen, or so Amit recalls. Nisha says it was when he asked for her notes. Conversations were never tough as they could argue on almost any subject since their thoughts differed on every subject. Three years of college flew by and Amit got his first job in another city. Nisha decided to pursue a specialized course in graphic designing.

Amit spoke to her father and requested for her hand in marriage… and was summarily refused. Amit was a Punjabi, Nisha was a Jain. It was impossible. For a year they kept trying to talk to Nisha’s parents with no result. Then things went from bad to worse pretty quickly. Even as she was barred from meeting Amit, Nisha’s father started looking for a match. They found a pilot – good looking, earning well and from their caste – while Amit was just starting out in business in Mumbai; Nisha lived in a nearby city.

Before you read further tell us: What would you do if faced with a similar situation?

NEXT PAGE >>> They did what no parent would forgive...