Guess Who’s Coming to Diwali
My traditional Indian parents won’t accept my white girlfriend. What can I do?
Posted Thursday, April 24, 2008, at 6:53 AM ET
Dear Prudence,
I am a 25-year-old Indian-American who has been in this country since I was 5. I started dating a Caucasian classmate four and a half years ago in college. The romance bloomed, and we are still together. She is kind, loving, beautiful, and a great inspiration. I see us together for the rest of our lives. There is only one problem: My parents are very traditional Indians and have told me since I was a young boy that they wanted me to have an arranged marriage, and if I did “bring home an American girl” that they would disown me. After two years, I told them about the relationship, and they were rightfully hurt and upset I’d kept it a secret. They say now that they were “joking” about disowning me and that I should have come to them. But it is close to three years later, and my girlfriend has still never met my parents. I greet holidays with a sense of dread because I feel pulled in two different directions. Even when I bring her up in conversation, they quickly change the subject or just walk away. They say that my relationship is just “a phase” and that I will “come to my senses.” I also feel a sense of embitterment from my girlfriend for being completely shunned by her potential in-laws. My parents have told me that they will accept my girlfriend when we become engaged, but by then I fear that their attempt to build bridges will be too little, too late. I know that my parents love me and want the best for me, but is there anything I can do to unharden their hearts?
—Curry and French Fries
Dear Curry,
In 1922, a play debuted on Broadway called Abie’s Irish Rose, about a Jewish boy and Catholic girl who marry, much to the distress of both their parents (an issue still being played out today). Your parents are only the latest wave of immigrants wanting to experience the freedom and opportunity of America, while making sure their children don’t use this freedom and opportunity to find a spouse outside their religion, race, or ethnicity. Your parents have been sending you wildly mixed messages: They say, You will be disowned if you don’t take an Indian wife. Then they tell you, Oh, we were just kidding. They say, You should have told us about your girlfriend! But their behavior says, We’re going to keep pretending she doesn’t exist. Now they say, We’ll get to know her when you get engaged. But if you do, I think you’ll find they really mean, Get engaged, and we’ll stick our heads in the tandoor. While it’s wonderful you have respect and deference for your parents, you are 25 years old and have been with this woman for almost five years—you are even contemplating marrying her. So you must insist to your parents that the next time you come home for the holidays, you are bringing your girlfriend along. Explain that while you don’t know exactly what the future will bring vis-à-vis your relationship, you can no longer stand to be torn in opposite directions by the people in your life whom you love the most.
—Prudie
Source: Advice on manners and morals (April 24, 2008).
I’m not posting this article to discuss the effects of an inter racial marriage/relationship — we can if you guys want to.
But my interst is in the response-- how many of you agree with “prudie” and how many of you think she’s just a shallow amreekan who doesn’t understand that desi family structure. When they say they’ll put there hands in the tandoor-- they damn right will!
