Hinduism has no rules against marrying outside the faith. But couples say it has its bumps.

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn(RNS) — When Sinclair Sawhney was introduced to her husband, Deepak, at an art fair 30 years ago, “he was just a ton of fun, really sweet,” she said. “And he was a doctor. But not arrogant!”The only misgiving, Sawhney recalls, was the warning she got from the friend who set them up: Deepak’s family, the friend said, was “super conservative Indian.”
“I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what that means,’” said Sawhney, a European American who grew up attending Methodist and Presbyterian churches with her family in Southern California.
She would come to find out. As the two sent out their wedding invitations after two years of whirlwind romance, Deepak finally told his parents about her, interrupting his mother’s plan to introduce him to a Hindu woman.
“My mother-in-law said the only thing that gave her hope was that I had a master’s degree and that my parents were still married,” said Sawhney, a former teacher who now writes romance novels. “People told me to my face that interracial marriages never worked out, that they would never let their kids marry a white person.”
The wedding of Deepak, left, and Sinclair Sawhney blended Indian and Scottish traditions. (Photo courtesy of Sinclair Sawhney)
Sawhney credits her in-laws with the dialogue that appears in her series, Misguided Masala Matchmaker, about budding love between Indian couples. The first novel in the series, “A Hard Yes,” echoes her story: An inter …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]