Christabel Duah
People around the world are praising an Indian bride and her mother after photos of them sharing a special moment goes viral.
Videos by Rare
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In traditional Indian weddings — similar to other Western practices — a bride is typically given away by her father in a ritual known as kanyadaanam. In bride Sandhya’s wedding to an Australian named Sam, her mother, having raised her as a single parent, stepped into the role. A Facebook user reshared the image of the ritual and it, along with a powerful message, was spread across the web.
“A lot of cildren [sic] are raised by single parents,” said the post, in part. “Only two hands make a noise, but a single parent toils hard to go about life emotionally and financially, to make ends meet and beyond. Their ultimate purpose of existence is to see their children get married. Its [sic] that social recognition, they work towards and prepare for.”
The bride’s mother opened up to The News Minute about the viral moment and deciding to break the norms.
“I very much wanted to be a part of my daughter’s wedding and so I decided to be the one who had to give her away in marriage,” says Rajeshwari Sharma.
Her daughter Sandhya said she wouldn’t have done a single thing differently to ring in her big day with her mom.
“Having spent most of her time in Australia has given my mother a different perspective to challenge the traditional society and its norms back home in India,” she told the Minute. “We took the best out of its rich culture without being bound by customs that are discriminatory.”
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“More power to women..way to go” tweeted one user about the nontraditional moment.
More power to women..way to go..👏👏👏👏👏👏 https://t.co/Q7lBG7MiOj
— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) January 31, 2018
Another added, “Good to see such changes. So many traditions in India need to change, specially for single women. Whether divorced, widowed or never married, they are kept out of most ceremonies.”
Rituals and practices are for people, not the other way around. Beautiful example of a mother who's single handedly brought up her daughter going ahead single handedly in her कन्यादान too. https://t.co/yWRCLG8Bpx
— Chitra Sarwara चित्रा सरवारा (@ChitraSarwara) February 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/AsoBegum/status/959117313374113793
How wonderful, love & congratulations to all x x x x
— Nade 💙 🌻 (@_Nade_Lou_) February 1, 2018
Congratulations indeed!
