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These bold Brides in India will make you view Indian weddings in a different light

A girl sends away her prospective groom because he arrives at the wedding venue in an inebriated state. If you thought this could happen (if at all) only in the metro cities of India, then read further, for you will be surprised that now even girls in rural India are standing up for themselves. India is truly shining!

These bold Brides in India will make you view Indian weddings in a different light

A girl sends away her prospective groom because he arrives at the wedding venue in an inebriated state. If you thought this could happen (if at all) only in the metro cities of India, then read further, for you will be surprised that now even girls in rural India are standing up for themselves. India is now truly shining!

India is truly an incredible country. At a time when we are surrounded by reports of rapes, domestic violence, honour killings and the like, there are girls who have strongly upheld their integrity. Below we list few such girls who broke the  norms and stood up for themselves.

1. Neha, Mahoba district, Uttar Pradesh

In Ajnar, a small village near Kanpur, in the Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, Neha, daughter of Shripat Ahirwar, was ready for her ‘jaimal,’ a ritual in Hindu weddings. All of a sudden, she noticed that the groom, Arvind, a native of Ragauli village, was in a drunken state and was fighting with her siblings over the music. Neha’s siblings had stopped the music since it was disturbing the priest, but Arvind and his friends created a scene over this.

Neha did not take any time in announcing before the gathering that she would not marry Arvind. She could not tolerate the fact that the boy who was going to be her life partner had come inebriated at their wedding ceremony and hurled abuses at her relatives. When Neha refused to budge, the ‘baraat’ had to return.

“She refused to marry the man who was drunk. I did not force her to marry against her wishes,” said her father.

Hindu_marriage_ceremony_offering

Photo for representation purpose only. Credit: “Hindu marriage ceremony offering” by Jaisingh Rathore. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

2. Puneshwari, Medha village, Chhatisgarh

Puneshwari of Medha village, near Bilaspur, too took a courageous step of refusing to marry Deepak Yadav of Mendra village, who, she got to know, was drunk even before the  wedding ceremonies began. Deepak’s family pleaded before Puneshwari’s family but to no avail. The villagers too wholeheartedly supported the bride’s decision.

3. Renu Kumari, Navratanpur village, Bihar

When Dhannu Kumar took his wedding procession from Chakmusa village in Patna district to Navratanpur village in the same district, little did he think that his drunkenness will cost him a bride.  When Renu Kumari saw that the groom had not only reached the wedding venue under the influence of alcohol but was also misbehaving with several of her relatives, she took the bold step of not only ordering the marriage party out of her home but also filing a case against the groom and 25 others for assaulting the wedding guests. What’s more – the groom was arrested and sent to jail for this unacceptable behaviour!

An Indian Muslim bride adjusts her veil as she waits for the start of a mass wedding in Ahmedabad on March 21, 2010. Some 201 Muslim couples participated in a mass wedding organised by The Gujarat Sarvajanik Welfare Trust. AFP PHOTO/ Sam PANTHAKY (Photo credit should read SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)
An Indian Muslim bride adjusts her veil as she waits for the start of a mass wedding in Ahmedabad on March 21, 2010. Some 201 Muslim couples participated in a mass wedding organised by The Gujarat Sarvajanik Welfare Trust. AFP PHOTO/ Sam PANTHAKY
Photo for representation purpose only. Credit: SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images

These incidents prove that thewomen in India are no longer ready to succumb to the conventional social norms. Rather, they are now standing up against any ill treatment and taking bolder steps to move ahead in life.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: [email protected], or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).

Inputs from Shruti Mehrotra: Although a Ph.D. student at IIT Kanpur currently, education and women development related issues are dearer to Shruti Mehrotra. Trained in Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Karate, she is a voracious reader. Working for TBI helps her pursue her love for reading and writing and also coming across the challenges people are facing daily and their solutions. Follow her blog: shrutiwrites.blogspot.in or twitter: @mshruti_iitk

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