Bigger India
Love And Marriage: Rebels Against An Indian Tradition That Endures In The U.S.
The Nair Service Society of North America embraces the tradition of marrying within the caste. In 2017, the organization launched a matchmaking website called Matrimony 4 Nairs.
For years, my mom, Indira Pillay, told her American friends and colleagues that she and my dad had had a shotgun wedding. Until one day, someone informed her that a shotgun wedding takes place when the bride is pregnant.
“We hardly touched each other before we got married,” she explains. “I thought it meant any no-frills wedding ceremony.”