Riya Sardar and Rakhi Naskar got married. Both are dancers. They were in love and wanted to live together. So, their wedding took place with much celebration at the Shanti Sangha Temple in the Sundarbans. The local people organized the ceremony. Society can hardly accept same-sex relationships—yet here, two women even got married! There is a certain openness in Hinduism; perhaps that is what made this marriage ceremony possible.

The law may not recognize it, but the temple did. Till today, no synagogue, church, mosque, or pagoda has ever accepted or performed a marriage between same-sex couples. I’m not saying that everyone within Hinduism will accept such a marriage—but many people in the Sundarbans did. That’s how social evolution happens.

~ Taslima Nasreen, Author

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