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and you name the combination, you’ll find
it.
Here is the case of octogenarian Dr. Ratan
Parimoo (recently awarded the Padma
Shri) a Kashmiri who left his state to study
art in Baroda in 1950s, met and married
Naina Dalal a Gujarati, also an artist
herself. Married since 1960, they have
been living in Baroda. Naina has adapted
so well to Kashmiri customs, observing the
festivals and making conventional goodies
on special occasions.
Recently we were part of a wedding in
Canada where an Indian girl, father a
Punjabi Khatri and mother Kashmiri
Pandit married a Nepalese boy. It was
one fun filled wedding with religious,
social and formal functions from all the
backgrounds happening in sync with each
other with perfect planning.
Bollywood too has contributed in its own
way to bridge the geographical divide.
Some examples are Dharmendra - Hema
Heard of a Sardarji marrying a Bengali? Malini and Deepika Padukone - Ranveer
Meet Gurcharan Singh Sekhon and Nandita Singh and of course Sharimala and Patudi.
Biswas. Happily married since 1980, they One way integration can be explained is
now live in Panchkula after retirement from that most South Indians even though they
the defence forces. The lady dresses like a know English and understand Hindi refuse
pukka punjaban and speaks fluent Punjabi. to speak any other language but their own,
They complement each other’s personality yet enjoy dancing to popular Bollywood
beautifully. songs. Our TV serials and movies like
When two communities come together DDLJ have gotten half of India fasting for
with the good intention they learn and their spouses on Karva Chauth……. Isn’t
respect each other’s customs and culture. that a marriage of Cultures?
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