The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India

A literary investigation into India as a society in transition through the lens of forbidden love, as three young couples reject arranged marriages and risk everything for true love in the midst of social and political upheaval.

In India, two out of every three people are under the age of thirty-five. These are men and women who grew up with the internet and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they're expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It's that conflict between obeying tradition and embracing modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi's The Newlyweds.

Through vivid, lyrical prose, Choksi shines a light on three young couples who buck against arranged marriages in the pursuit of true love, illustrating the challenges, shame, anger, triumph, and loss their actions and choices set in play.

Against the backdrop of India's beautiful villages and cities, Choksi introduces our newlyweds. First, there's the lesbian couple forced to flee for a chance at a life together. Then there's the Hindu woman and Muslim man who escaped their families under the cover of night after being harassed by a violent militia group. Finally, there's the inter-caste couple who are doing everything to avoid the same fate as a similar couple who were burned alive.

Engaging and moving, The Newlyweds raises universal questions, such as: What are we really willing to risk for love? If we're lucky enough to find it, does it change us? If so, for the better? Or for the worse?

ISBN-13: 9781982134440

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication Date: 08-30-2022

Pages: 288

Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

Mansi Choksi is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and two-time Livingston Award Finalist. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, National Geographic, The Atlantic, and more. She lives in Dubai with her husband and son. The Newlyweds is her first book. Follow her on Twitter @Mansi_Choksi.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: Kakheri

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters ix

Introduction 1

Part 1

Chapter 1 Kakheri 7

Chapter 2 The Love Commandos 19

Chapter 3 Snakes and Mongooses 31

Chapter 4 Right Wrong, Wrong Right 47

Chapter 5 I Am Reshma 63

Chapter 6 You Look to Me, I Look to Y'ou 75

Part 2

Chapter 7 Dirty Children 89

Chapter 8 Manoj and Babli 101

Chapter 9 Love Jihad 113

Chapter 10 A Delicate World Toppled 127

Chapter 11 A Free Life 141

Chapter 12 Take Me as I Am 153

Part 3

Chapter 13 Within Yourself Make Patience the Bow 167

Chapter 14 Love Marriage = Destroy Life 179

Chapter 15 Objects in the Mirror 191

Chapter 16 Sorry, Wrong Number 205

Chapter 17 A Matter of Pride 219

Chapter 18 How to Say It 231

A Note on Sources 243

Afterword 245

Acknowledgments 251

Credits 253

Index 255

Show More