How a Gay Indian Wedding is Breaking Gender Stereotypes
Indian Gay Couple Breaks Gender Specificity at their own wedding.
This Indian gay couple is breaking gender stereotypes — at their own wedding. Vaibhav Jain and Parag Mehta had a huge wedding. Vaibhav Jain and Parag Mehta danced wore mehendi were given away by their parents and didn't miss any traditional wedding rituals. They had a big fat Indian wedding in Texas, with all the magnificence and the rituals. They got married on March 30, in a traditional Jain ceremony, attended by family and friends from across the U.S. and India. The duo's wedding festivity kickstarted with a Garba night and was followed by other ceremonies including Mehendi and Var-Daan. Interestingly, it was Vaibhav who wrote and made a few changes in the traditions with his officiant. The wedding was concluded with an American reception with guests dancing on hit Bollywood numbers and obviously the mouthwatering delicious Indian food.
Vaibhav is a research associate with the American Institutes for Research and Executive Board member of the South Asian Public Health Association. Parag is a Senior Vice President at Mastercard and is the former Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the 19th US Surgeon General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“I want to have the same traditions and rituals, and I want to show the world that it is possible to have that whether you're a straight couple or a gay couple. In Desi weddings, whether they're Hindu or Muslim or Sikh, there's so much gender specificity, right? The role for the girl, the role for the boy, the role for the maternal side, the role for the paternal side. We are very very gender-specific. So that required us to redo certain things. Vaibhav spent a lot of time going through the Jain ritual and reorganizing certain pieces to make it work for us,” adds Parag.
Parag and Vaibhav decided to take the next big step after nearly dating for six years. Now, they argue like any happily married couple.
Brut.