We have known each other for over three years. We have dated for more than two of those years. We have been through difficult times – things most relationships wouldn’t be able to endure. So we are confident that our love is strong, substantial and worth fighting for. It’s the love we want to share with one another until death parts us.
But I am an American woman and, in the eyes of my boyfriend’s Telugu Brahmin family, that disqualifies me a thousand times over as suitable marriage partner. We have hoped and waited, biding our time until the “right” moment comes for him to tell his parents that he is “committed” to me. But based on their reactions to his admission to them that he “likes an American girl,” the best case scenario is his parents miraculously not disowning him when he tells them that he is determined to marry me…
I am at a loss for how to support my beloved and how to begin to understand the complexities of a culture that would sooner reject her own son than accept an unexpected daughter-in-law. So, I am starting this blog in the hopes that others may share insight on South Indian Brahmin culture, or share their own experiences in this minefield of interracial love. I want this to be a place where we can support each other on the controversial journey that India calls a “Love Marriage.”
