Journey of my book characters(Gurmeet &Kavita) life during Lockdown.Source: .From my book "100days of lockdown:Story of five friends"

Gurmeet &Kavita (imaginary characters) life during Lockdown

Gurmeet Singh(Sikh)  and Kavita Sundran (Tamil brhamin) after 3 years of their marriages decided to spent this crucial time of lockdown due to COVID-19 with Gurmeet’s parents house which is in Chandigarh so they started their journey from Pune to Chandigarh.

About them: They met in same club in 2012 on a coffee table, the old-fashioned way. After five years of being on Tamil matrimony and Shaadi.com and going on many awkward dates with  men,

Kavita found Gurmeet  humour and self-deprecating  jokes were a breath of fresh air. Being a stand up comedian Gurmeet is open-minded and curious about different cultures, so his Punjabi upbringing wasn’t an issue for Kavita.

They experienced the cultural challenge early on. Having been brought up in a fairly strict Tamil Brahmin household where boyfriends were a no-no for Kavita and the norm was to have an arranged marriage by the time you were 25, introducing Gurmeet as a love interest so early on was just not going to happen. Also Kavita parents' marriage story was very straightforward: her dad was sent a picture of her mother, he liked the look of her, they met once and then got married No dating, no meeting same culture, same values and beliefs.

While in Gurmeet family arranged marriage in a sikh family is still ideal choice like most of sikh families.

The older generations still believe that only by arranged marriage can their children have a stable marriage and that free love is a bad thing also Gurmeet is the first person in the entire family to marry with Tamil girl. Under those circumstances, it is no wonder that many older person of his sikh family are defensive about Tamil girl.

The obstacles they were went trough were mainly because of the misunderstanding between the people from the two different communities and barriers like language and their cultural values.

Both Gurmeet and Kavita were under pressure from their own parents. Gurmeet mother also cried  every day and worried about their relationship.

 But fortunately, their love for each other was determined and later, due to the constant persuasion and the confirmation their parents finally agreed for their marriage.

However most of south Indian girls are well educated cultured and have an open mind and known for their gentle personality and care about their family and Punjabi boys are known for their hardworking and jolly nature.

 Since after lockdown started, Kavita plans began for her trip to Chandigarh, where she would meet her husband’s paternal family, have their official get-together party, and even shop for her Punjabi outfit (if possible). The initial excitement of her first Chandigarh trip was soon overshadowed by a cloud of stress stemming from many disagreements about styles, colors, food, music, and biggest of all, how she, speak and understand core Punjabi.

It is not just Gurmeet and I that have dealt with this cross cultural challenge. I take my hat off to my parents who, given their upbringing, have been extremely welcoming, accommodating and accepting said Kavita.

This is very first time when Kavita first met Gurmeet's parents so closely. Though this was not the most relaxing vacation. When they visited initially they stayed in a guest room much larger than their living room in Pune. But the phrase "fundamentally incompatible" was already burned into Kavita’s brain. This was true: Kavita is a mess, and Gurmeet was very clean.

During the two weeks staying in Gurmeet parents' guest bedroom, Kavita lived out of her suitcase, piling dirty and clean clothes on the floor.

But in total opposite this gives a family impression to Gurmeet mother and entire family started accepting Kavita style of living. And finally Kavita feel at home with Gurmeet's family. Soon Gurmeet mother and Kavita started taking silly photos back-and-forth like she do with her own mom, and they had normal conversations instead of Kavita feeling like she have to perform for them.

Kavita told them, 'I don't like to cook and clean, and she wants a career, so she is not a stay-at-home wife she also felt sorry for this. Surprisingly, this was even appreciated by Gurmeet’s parents. Then they went out to dinner with a wide search of Punjabi dhaba (local road side restaurants in Punjab,India known for tasty traditional food) rarely opened due to lockdown. They decided it would work out, and then a week later, they got finally adjusted and it's been working out for rest of the days oflockdown.

Story Source: From my book "100days of lockdown:Story of five friends" 

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