Sikh Marriage

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Sikh Marriage

Introduction

Expect among some westernised subgroups in the larger Indian cities

social mixing between the sexes is restricted, even in co-educational

schools. Also, the joint or extended family system is still the Indian

norm. It is in this context, which can only be referred to in passing

in this piece of coursework, that Sikh marriage must be understood.

Marriage, traditionally, is not a private matter between two persons.

Through the couple two families become closely connected and into one

family comes a stranger, the wife. She has therefore to be compatible

not only with her husband but with his parents, brothers, their wives

and his unmarried sisters. Ideally the marriage is based upon love,

the love of both families for their offspring.

Social status and monetary advantage, if they play a part, should be

subordinate considerations. Assisted marriage rather than arranged

marriage is the phrase Sikhs would prefer to describe the procedure of

choosing a husband or wife. The decision to marry is itself a joint

one, though custom also plays its part. Among some groups there may be

a tradition of marriage at fourteen or fifteen. Child marriage in the

traditional Indian sense has always been repudiated by Sikhs and a

14-year-old in India can be shouldering considerable adult

responsibilities. The legal limit in India now is eighteen for women

and twenty-one for men, and Sikhs accept the law of the country in

which they live.

The decision to seek marriage may be influenced by a number of

considerations. Normally the older daughter should marry before her

sisters. If the young person is undergoing higher edu...

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... will be given little choice, and that they will miss the experience of

feeling "true love," or even knowing what it is.

That is what makes dating so different, so much the opposite of

arranged marriages. It is a perpetual search for the perfect soul

mate, one which is likely to raise more doubts than provide answers.

"Is this my perfect match?" "Or is s/he out there somewhere waiting

for me to dump this current prospect?" The minds of daters are clouded

by this notion.

The beauty of an arranged marriage is that the emphasis is on getting

along, not evaluating one another on a scale of one to ten. It is a

mature relationship from the outset.

Bibliography:

Google search engine

Yahoo search engine

www.sikh.org

Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Books from public library

Varan Bhai Gurdas Steek

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