When it’s the wedding of your siblings, you would like to give every ounce of your sweat and blood to make the event memorable and happy for you and your homey.
This woman named Ria Chopra also actively wanted to be a part of her sister’s wedding which happened as per desi traditions.
However, there are some rituals and customs like holding the phoolon ki chaddar and doing the tilak which are reserved for men that would have kept her away. So, what could she do? Sit silently in the corner while others performed the rituals that she should have been performing? No, not a chance!
Instead, Ria and her family decided to tweak the rituals to include her wherever they could. “The result were some incredibly special and intimate moments that may not have been ‘traditional’ or ‘proper’ but they were right, and they felt right,” she wrote in her Instagram post.
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After Ria posted about it on social media, she was lauded for breaking free from these patriarchal wedding traditions. She also inspired other women to follow suit and enjoy weddings the way they want to.
Taking to Twitter, the journalist by profession, shared that she recently received a message from a woman who said to her that she was inspired by her tweaking the wedding ceremonies and asked for the same at her own sister’s wedding.
My sister got married earlier this year & I wrote about how we tweaked the wedding ceremonies to let me do rituals traditionally (patriarchally) done by brothers. Today I got a DM from a friend who saw my story & got inspired to ask for the same at her own sister's wedding too 🥺 pic.twitter.com/m3mqKwUjwd
— Ria Chopra 🐍 (@riachops) December 17, 2022
The woman wrote to Ria:
“Hi Ria, I never told you. You really inspired me to do the rituals at my sister’s wedding. Even though fam said no at first, knowing that you did it, I knew I can do it too. Then I just had to talk to pandit ji and he agreed. So, really thank you for this as I have created memories that I will cherish forever.” (sic)
On hearing this, many came to the comments section to congratulate Ria for kickstarting what should have been done long back.
This is so beautiful and a great example of how some customs are meant to be broken and reformed!
More power and love to both you and your sister!💛— Gauri Vikram (@VikramGauri) December 17, 2022
Excellent 👌 so good 😊 baby steps towards smashing patriarchy 🤗
— Dr. Falguni Vasavada (@falgunivasavada) December 17, 2022
Wholesome 💜 Brautiful memories that you and your sister will cherish forever.
— Apoorvaa⁷ (@ApoorvaSingh519) December 18, 2022
This is absolutely incredible. What a wonderful story!
— SAIF (@vetoshield) December 19, 2022
inspiring story and killer outfits!
— Swiftie80 (@ZO99000) December 18, 2022
Amazing I always felt that Hindu weddings are so ritualistic and so anti women – anti widows. Frankly i hate it. Your tweet gives me hope
— vanita visvanath (@vanita09) December 18, 2022
Me and my sister always used to tie the rakhi to each other. Even poshi Poonam (Pooja done in the purnima of the month of paush) was done by us for each other. Today, my son and daughter tie a rakhi to each other. It’s happening, and everyone’s cool about it.
— Shweta (@Shwetak76) December 17, 2022
Really wish to see so much more of this
— Sukhada (@appadappajappa) December 17, 2022
Earlier, a couple denied performing ‘Kanyadaan’ at their daughter’s wedding. A woman got her 50-year-old mother remarried. Kudos to these women who are leading the fight against such regressive and unfair practices in India.