June 03, 2006
Indian Woman Marries SnakeReligion
Look, I love animals. I mean, I really love animals. I grew up with a dog, I have cats, and I walk some of the dogs in my neighborhood to break up my writing day. But I draw a line at this: Indian woman marries cobra.
Now, all phallic jokes aside, let’s take a look at this. This woman was sick. She started feeding the snake and got cured. Perhaps this was psychological, or coincidental, or perhaps it was indeed a religious sign. But basic questions are being ignored here.
For one, how did the snake propose? I’m assuming this Bimbala Das is a nice Indian girl who didn’t spring the question on it/him? Also:
Priests chanted mantras to seal the union, but the snake failed to come out of a nearby ant hill where it lives,
Then how do you know it said yes? What if it has a little cobra wife and babies already? You mean the incredible racket of an Indian wedding isn’t conducive to luring snakes into matrimony?
Second, what are the snake’s rights? Does he know own her property? Did he provide some kind of dowry? And, perhaps most important from the cobra’s point of view—does the snake have any conjugal rights? I mean, I’m just asking here, it’s a logical question.
“I am happy,” said her mother Dyuti Bhoi, who has two other daughters and two sons to marry off.
Eeeeeeeenteresting. Perhaps a trip to the zoo is in order? I’ve heard penguins mate for life….
a traditional Hindu wedding celebrated by 2,000 guests in India’s Orissa state
This is the most shocking of all. A cobra can get 2000 guests to come to its wedding in the heat of India in June and I can’t get half my guests to come up past 14th street on a weekday.
neeraja on June 3, 2006 06:05 PM in Animals, Religion · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
¤ Half the Sins of Mankind said: Before Anyone Asks
¤ Rohan Pinto said: Woman weds Reptile
Indian Woman Marries Snake. [ link via Sepia Mutiny ] ...
A (male) friend in India was instructed by a pandit to marry "a goat or a tree" to get rid of the bad luck fated for his marriage...before he could go on to marry his girlfriend. I can't believe he actually went through with it (he chose the tree :-D )
So why not a snake. At least its a convenient shape...
Then how do you know it said yes? What if it has a little cobra wife and babies already? You mean the incredible racket of an Indian wedding isnt conducive to luring snakes into matrimony?
Neeraja, Neeraja. Surely they had the snake's biodata and made sure that he came from a good family....
This is the most shocking of all. A cobra can get 2000 guests to come to its wedding and I cant get half my guests to come up past 14th street on a weekday.
Ain't that the truth. Less than half when its pouring rain.
Man, the girl's a serious desi goth...
(sorry, couldn't resist... :)
It's a good thing the snake was of the right caste, presumably there might be caste issues that come into play. I mean how lucky to fall in love with a snake of the same caste and everything wow some people are so lucky.
Dont miss the last line......
"Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar."
This reminds me of the bollymovie 'Doodh ka karz', wherein the busty Aruna Irani breastfeeds a 'hungry' snake with mere doodh ka karz nibhana playing in the background.
And my teacher told me snakes dont drink milk. sigh.
huh!!! Do we need another public "pass the camera. chaz at the club will love it" type facials? even the brits [1] , [2] (via UB) try to avoid the cheap thrills.
I cant get half my guests to come up past 14th street on a weekday.
Well, it's far, dude. Come to Brooklyn!
Notice how the article states that the girl 'fell in love' with the snake. Did she consider consumating this match? Eww.
such sobersided jokes! what happened to SM.
I JUST HOPE THEY ARE HAPPY---NOT ENOUGH OF THAT IN THIS VERY TROUBLED WORLD !!!
two words: "suhaag raat" (nuptial night)!!!
All the whiners and moaners on the other thread about arranged marriages should stop whining and read this story. You get introduced to some woman or man by your Uncle Baljinder and you complain? Count yourself lucky your parents didnt push you in a room with a rattlesnake or boa constrictor and expect you to make shy conversation over cups of tea and samosas.
I love the snake story and find it all terribly romantic. How many women can actually boast of marrying some one who has cured them of disease.As for his possibly already having a family- well, this could be an open marriage. Conjugal visits? Let's hope so!
Wait a second- So the snake, didn't even come to the wedding, and had a stand in replica? So if I get this right...
Supposing I wanted to get married to say...John Abraham. And I got the village elders (i.e. SM bloggers) to approve, and say, hypothetically speaking, I had a cardboard cutout of Mr. Abraham and used the cutout as a stand in at the wedding.. Is it possible, just oh so possible, that my dream of marrying John Abraham could come true?
I'm just sayin'....
If a man in Sudan can be forced by the court to marry his goat why can't a woman in India marry a snake out of her own volition
Good advertisement of Women empowerment in India. I am gonna forward this to everyone who talks about Indian women being forced into marriage.
Supposing I wanted to get married to say...John Abraham. And I got the village elders (i.e. SM bloggers) to approve, and say, hypothetically speaking, I had a cardboard cutout of Mr. Abraham and used the cutout as a stand in at the wedding.. Is it possible, just oh so possible, that my dream of marrying John Abraham could come true?
Taz, I don't know how far this is true but my mom used to tell me that back when Rajesh Khana was crooning 'Mere sapno ki rani kabh aayegi tu', enough women went gaga and got married to his photograph.
Going by that, I guess, a marriage by proxy is considered, well, a marriage. ;-)
Hmm, very interesting. not to mention the use
of>Eeeeeeeenteresting While people are free to voice their opinions, I did not expect this from someone who is into legalese to pay her bills. For a moment, let us leave the people of Orissa aside. Allow me to present the following so that we can judge with a brader perspective. We are judging right?
[*] All those who sleep with their dogs and cats, please raise your hand. Thank You.
[*] How many of you remember granny's tongue action with the dog in Something About Mary?
[*] How many of you actually know that bestiality is legal in Sweden and is on the rise?
Unlike most countries, bestiality is not illegal in Sweden. The legal prohibitions against both bestiality and homosexuality were lifted by the country in 1944. Advancing secularism has played the major role in the sexual radicalization of Sweden. In an article published last year entitled "The End of Marriage in Scandinavia", author Stanley Kurtz reported "Sweden is probably the most secular country in the world. Secular social scientists (most of them quite radical) have largely replaced clerics as arbiters of public morality."
[*] Check out who in the world is intrigued by bestiality.
[*] How many of you remember a certain art movie where a man tries to color is body in stripes so that he can attract the tiger or the tigress. I don't remember exactly but this was a phenomenon at Cannes.
ok, you get the drift. Hmm, had this been covered by Nicholas Kristof or someone in the west, it would appear on Sepia Mutiny under a different tone and a headline.
later
//
Hmm, very interesting. not to mention the use
of>Eeeeeeeenteresting While people are free to voice their opinions, I did not expect this from someone who is into legalese to pay her bills. For a moment, let us leave the people of Orissa aside. Allow me to present the following so that we can judge with a brader perspective. We are judging right?
[*] All those who sleep with their dogs and cats, please raise your hand. Thank You.
[*] How many of you remember granny's tongue action with the dog in Something About Mary?
[*] How many of you actually know that bestiality is legal in Sweden and is on the rise?
Unlike most countries, bestiality is not illegal in Sweden. The legal prohibitions against both bestiality and homosexuality were lifted by the country in 1944. Advancing secularism has played the major role in the sexual radicalization of Sweden. In an article published last year entitled "The End of Marriage in Scandinavia", author Stanley Kurtz reported "Sweden is probably the most secular country in the world. Secular social scientists (most of them quite radical) have largely replaced clerics as arbiters of public morality."
[*] Check out who in the world is intrigued by bestiality.
[*] How many of you remember a certain art movie where a man tries to color is body in stripes so that he can attract the tiger or the tigress. I don't remember exactly but this was a phenomenon at Cannes.
ok, you get the drift. Hmm, had this been covered by Nicholas Kristof or someone in the west, it would appear on Sepia Mutiny under a different tone and a headline.
later
prope//er
I'm sorry but John Abraham is already taken. His picture (you know, the one where he has cornrows) and me got married a couple of days ago. So yeah, back off :)
I just love that none of this seems weird in their little nook of the world. I'm not sure in what light people are considering this story but since someone mentioned bestiality I just want to say that I don't think such marriages are meant to be consummated. It's just supposed to be about commitment and service. This woman will probably continue to worship this snake and feed it milk for the rest of its life and that's about it. Vive la multiculturalisme!
What if it had been a female cobra ? Would the Indian Government have allowed the same sex marriage to take place ?
@ Divya
... none of this seems weird in their little nook of the world.
Precisely. This is probably the most reasonable response I have read so far. What has transpired in Orissa is odd relative to standards outside the village. The "bestiality" angle was brought in not to suggest that the snake and the woman will somehow get it on but to highlight the hypocrisy in the comments with mildly flavored words such as "consummate" and the following verbiage that comes off as an attempt at humor
Now, all phallic jokes aside, lets take a look at this. This woman was sick. She started feeding the snake and got cured. Perhaps this was psychological, or coincidental, or perhaps it was indeed a religious sign. But basic questions are being ignored here.
For one, how did the snake propose? Im assuming this Bimbala Das is a nice Indian girl who didnt spring the question on it/him?
This article and post feels somewhat ethnocentric. The yahoo article was written in a 'look at those freaks over there' tone... Don't you think? I think I might just be hyper-sentitive to these things. As a person of color, you always gotta wonder if you're laughing at urself sometimes.
Anyway, just an exercise in cultural relativity. Given that the Cobra is associated with Lord Shiva in India, isn't it plausible that this woman conceived of herself as being wedded a God. Isn't Shiva supposed to take form as Cobra sometimes? If so, how different is that from being a bride of christ, as many nuns are considered to be in certain Christian orders. And so, if Bimbala says she has fallen in love, is it perhaps the cultural equivalent of the ascetic love that nuns profess for Christ in our society?
I have no explanation for the tribal girl being married to a dog thing. Beats me. But u get my drift....
taz, where will you and Mr Abraham's poster be honeymooning? Or how about you, Sleepy? (hey, if he posed for more than one picture, that means more than one lady can marry him, right?
The underlying reasons are probably a lot more prosaic. Note that the woman in question is 30, lowercaste and dirtpoor with no prospects for marriage given her situation. Rather than live with the pity or worse, contempt, of her fellow villagers, she has (brilliantly) created for herself a new status (some sort of conversion into the vaishnav sect which is probably something that was not open to her caste before) and achieved almost global fame. She'll outlive the cobra, live off her reputation or pseudo-divine status and may even earn enough money to set up her siblings. Plus she's had a wedding that was probably beyond her wildest expectatations- 2000 guests! Nice work.
The truly weird/freaky ones are the ones like the british woman who went to Israel and married a dolphin. After a 15 year courtship!
Here's the girl marries dog story. It's rather sad that stories like this cause so much merriment amongst us 'sophisticates'.
Sleepy,
You can have your cornrowed john abraham. I'm going to get married to the "I'm a wanna be boxer in a parking garage" Abraham. Now if only I could find that life size cutout...
As for our honeymoon, H1Beyatch, I saw a lovely photograph of this beach on the Bahamas. It's like, getting married to a picture- instead, we are going to vacation in a picture...!
[It's late, give me a break...]
It's just supposed to be about commitment and service. This woman will probably continue to worship this snake and feed it milk for the rest of its life and that's about it.
Will she nag him when he slithers home late and hangs out with his snake friends all the time.
Would have smiled if it were a Python a la "The Seductress", but Cobra. On second thought, the hood of the cobra has a better significance, Lingum and all that
this is not so bad. some of my women friends ended up marrying some slimier creatures...
on the other hand, if its one of those cobras that spit venom, it'll give a whole new dimension to their marital "spats"...
Unless the motivations were the same as those detailed in posts #25 and 27, personally I blame the priests concerned for actually going through with this.
In any case, if the woman wanted some kind of formalised association with the animal, I don't know why she couldn't have tied a rakhee around him instead and just turned him into her "brother". Why go for marriage, something which is supposedly a romantic association ?
(PS: Mirax -- are you the same person from the Pickled Politics blog ? If so, I'm the same "Jai").
mirax - I think you are right to point out more concrete, material reasons for this 'marriage'. Instinctively, I also thought of socio-economic reasons which might explain the motivations behind this event. However, I also find it useful sometimes to recede to my own cultural framework and draw on comparable examples to de-fetishize seemingly bizarre (and humorous!) events like this....(after a laugh or two).
Jai - I am not sure exactly why she decided to marry the snake. For one, the article doesn't really give us any context. It's written specifically to emphasize the outlandishness of the whole thing. So we don't really know whether 'marriage' is even conceptualized romantically. If it is, perhaps she chose 'marriage' simply because spinsterhood isn't well looked upon...(?)
a.
Jai:
>> personally I blame the priests concerned for actually going through with this.
I would blame the priests if they refused to go through with this. It's not the priest's job to judge and decide whether the marriage is suitable, whether it's a child-marriage, or whether it's a same-sex marriage or whether it's marriage between a man and a dog or a woman and a cobra. In Hindu tradition, marriage is a union between two atman (soul/spirit), not a union of two bodies. His job is to make sure that all the proper Vedic rites are completed as per the scriptures.
M. Nam
It's not the priest's job to judge and decide whether the marriage is suitable, whether it's a child-marriage, or whether it's a same-sex marriage or whether it's marriage between a man and a dog or a woman and a cobra. In Hindu tradition, marriage is a union between two atman (soul/spirit), not a union of two bodies. His job is to make sure that all the proper Vedic rites are completed as per the scriptures
Mashallah!
We must make the California Education Board include this in their revisions.
Hail Inter Species Conjugality! Mogambo!
MoorNam,
Do Vedic rites and the associated scriptures condone/approve of child-marriage or marriage between a human and an animal ?
This is an honest question.
MoorNam:
>>In Hindu tradition, marriage is a union between two atman (soul/spirit), not a union of two bodies.
That's interesting. I don't know Vedic scriptures well enough to comment. But that is quite a liberal definition of 'marriage'. In Canada, we are going to re-open the debate on same-sex marriage and I just finished arguing with my dad about it. So sick and tired of the same old shit. I should quote Vedic scriptures next time I get into this argument with him. Thanks for the insight!
Do Vedic rites and the associated scriptures condone/approve of child-marriage or marriage between a human and an animal ?
And why not?
Have you never seen a goat before and thought she might make a good wife?
Of course MoorNam is not speaking about physical things, he refers only to the soul and atman of the dog and snake and goat. And as Hindus we are able with our 63 billion years of Vedic civilization able to see and evaluate the souls of a goat as we see it. We speak to it. The goat says 'baah'. We know her soul. We marry the goat. It is the job of the priest to do this. Don't be such an Abrahamic influenced bigot.
Hail Bakhra Mogambo!
Jai asks: >>Do Vedic rites and the associated scriptures condone/approve of child-marriage or marriage between a human and an animal ?
Question: Does the fire in a smith's workshop condone/approve of mixing of iron with copper or cast iron with purified iron?
Answer: Fire does not judge. It will melt the two metals into one regardless of their properies. Whether, upon cooling, the combined material corrodes, breaks, becomes brittle, or lasts a thousand years is irrelevant to the fire.
Similiarly, Vedic rites do not judge the two souls that are to be united.
M. Nam
Question: Does the fire in a smith's workshop condone/approve of mixing of iron with copper or cast iron with purified iron? Answer: Fire does not judge. It will melt the two metals into one regardless of their properies. Whether, upon cooling, the combined material corrodes, breaks, becomes brittle, or lasts a thousand years is irrelevant to the fire.
Hail Mogambo!
I'm brushing down my tuxedo for my forthcoming wedding to my goldfish, Pinky. She's been flirting with me for the last month and it's been love at first gulp. Just me and her in a plastic bag as the priest chants the Vedic rites.
This non Abrahamic metal shall not corrode, break or become brittle! I will not live in shame of my goldfish love again! Hindu marriage shall not be persecuted by you Abrahamic influenced bigots!
We'll take our honeymoon in the San Fransisco Aquarium.
Hail Carassius auratus auratus Mogambo!
Vedic rites do not judge the two souls that are to be united
Q. Who established the Vedic rites? Who conducts them during Hindu marriage ceremonies?
A. Men.
Q. You see grown men marrying young girls, children marrying other children, and women marrying non-humans like fish and snakes and trees. Has there ever been an instance of a Hindu man being married off to a virginal banyan tree? Or a Hindu man being married off to a cow, or a frog, or a rock?
A. In all likelihood, no.
It's misleading to say that Hindu priests are amoral like fire, as you say. Patriarchy is a bitch, so to speak, if you're a child, woman, tree, or a goat.
Shri MoorNam warned all of you PseudoSecular Mutiny people on the thread below dedicated to the Satanic Witch from Hell and Destroyer of Hinduism Arundhati Roy the following:
But she has weaknesses that will bring her to doom. I know them, but why would I list them on an open forum? After all, I am shrewd, charismatic myself, and like her I have an agenda too.
Do not live in shame any more snake and goat and dog lovers!
It shall no more be the love that speaks its name!
Shri MoorNam has an agenda!
Worry no more!
Everything will be alright!
And he certainly is charismatic and shrewd.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to buy an engagement ring for my darling. Her atman is even more sexy than her fins.
Hail Mogambo!
AHUJA said:
The yahoo article was written in a 'look at those freaks over there' tone... Don't you think? I think I might just be hyper-sentitive to these things. As a person of color, you always gotta wonder if you're laughing at urself sometimes.
It's official: we're not only rat-eaters, but snake-marryers as well.
I would blame the priests if they refused to go through with this. It's not the priest's job to judge and decide whether the marriage is suitable, whether it's a child-marriage, or whether it's a same-sex marriage or whether it's marriage between a man and a dog or a woman and a cobra. In Hindu tradition, marriage is a union between two atman (soul/spirit), not a union of two bodies. His job is to make sure that all the proper Vedic rites are completed as per the scriptures.
This is very interesting and sounds liberal.. So do you know the meaning of the sanskrit mantras chanted during the marriage?.. Can you explain if you have time..
How does "caste" come into play?. Is there a caste for that snake??..
This post got me thinking back to when I was in second grade. I can't even remember how exactly this evolved, but somehow my friends and I decided I was going to get married during recess the following day. And the groom? My desk. Seriously.
The whole second grade attended my wedding, including those stragglers from other grades who happened to have a few moments to spare (it wasn't a long, Indian wedding but a quick ceremony). But because we couldn't take the desk outside, we had a stand-in. My friend Tori (a girl) was the replacement. And my best friend married us.
We all thought it was so funny, because we were so innocent and assumed we were just being silly. I wonder what they would think if they knew of this story...
Find wierd news like this (and maybe wierder) at snopes.com in the wierd news section
So do you know the meaning of the sanskrit mantras chanted during the marriage?..
I got married less then a year ago and if I remember correctly, most of the mantras invoked the male and female energy together to form a whole. The fire was used as a witness. The priest blessed us forms of Shiv and Parvati and Ram and Sita etc. A lot of them were blessings from all the Gods across the spectrum and then there were a lot of mantras and rituals particular to the Gujurat region that me and my husband are from.
In this snake wedding, they probably used the same male and female energy getting together to form a whole concept.
This post should've been under the 'Humour' category.
Having said that:
Moornam:In Hindu tradition, marriage is a union between two atman (soul/spirit), not a union of two bodies.
It should be, 'not just a union of two bodies'. Because, the purpose of an elaborate, ritual-laden marriage ceremony is for a man and a woman to become a couple in the eyes of the society, with the holy fire as the witness.
Where there is no ceremony and the couple just decide to cohabit, that would still be considered an acceptable form of union in Hindu tradition (Gandharva Vivaha a la Sakuntala and Dushyant). Going by this, one can say that most 'live in' relationships or 'love marriages' where there is only a civil wedding (marriage registration) and no rituals in a temple, church etc., could all be considered Gandharva Vivahas, and have the weight of vedic tradition's approval behidn them (Go for it !).
And then there are other forms of marriages as well. Fortunately, some of the blatantly patriarchal forms have only been recognized, but not considered acceptable.
Fundamentalism (being too literal about the scriptures) is definitely not the Hindu tradition.
This is another link I found about Hindu marriage rites: Link
What about Nagina???
(With respek to the greatest doctor boy of them all, and to Mr. Lam himself, we offer a brief interlude for our viewing audiences...)
I am SpLam. SpLam I am.
I am a fan of Moorish Nam.
I would not mock him here or there,
I would not mock him anywhere!
Could I? Would I? In the Desh?
Could I? Would I? With Ganesh?
Could I? Would I? In a lungi?
Could I? Would I? On my kundi?
Not in the Desh!
Not with Ganesh!
Not in a lungi!
Not on my kundi!
Not in my house!
Not with your spouse!
(Vell, maaaaybe...)
Not on a train!
Not with Hussain!
My ISP? You let me be!
I dont like those who dont like ham!
I do not like them, SpLam I am!
* * *
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...
Hey Jai.
One and same. And yes, I know that you are you ...! I'm rarely here; have a rather low tolerance level for 'desi' blogs as such and PP is pretty much it.
Who said we're desi? You haven't met me in flesh yet have you Mirax? I'm just pretending so I can attract some brown female blood. So far I've got Kismet hardy. It's not going well :(
The yahoo article was written in a 'look at those freaks over there' tone... Don't you think? I think I might just be hyper-sentitive to these things. As a person of color, you always gotta wonder if you're laughing at urself sometimes.
Anuja: I agree with you about the Yahoo article. Mine was not supposed to be ethnocentric, just funny. I have been aware of religious ceremonies that unite humans with animals or objects (my mother noted that a common ceremony was to a banana tree, which rather than just being a phallic symbol, is one of everlasting life and sustenance). However, I still find marriage to animals ridiculous--outside of any ethnocentric bias on the part of the AP, and it involves a lower caste woman or some rich white socialite.
Why? Kumar N put it perfectly:
It should be, 'not just a union of two bodies'. Because, the purpose of an elaborate, ritual-laden marriage ceremony is for a man and a woman to become a couple in the eyes of the society, with the holy fire as the witness.
I feel pretty comfortable in saying that marriage is a legal and societal construct intended for humans only. Otherwise, you're opening a slippery slope of legal issues. If the cobra dies, can she be compensated? If it attacks someone, is she responsible? Does it have the rights of a pet (property) or human? Can Bimbala marry a human (in many instances, yes, but this article makes no mention of it)? Is there a law in the Indian government that allows this, or is it an exception made on a case-by-case basis? Is the marriage legal outside of India? (almost certainly not)? What about caste?
And yes: if she decides to have some sort of conjugal relations with the snake--is that now acceptable under the law?
Like I said, I love animals. I could even be talked into a ritual ceremony bonding me to my pets. But the Indian government calling this "marriage" without looking into these questions (especially the issue of bestiality marriage to an animal opens up) is just a misnomer.
And I still can't believe 2000 people showed up. All from the bride's side.
....sorry, and I should have said "whether it involves a lower caste woman or a rich Park Avenue socialite.
and I don't think that marriage is exclusively for a man and woman, which is why I said "humans." I should, however, have said "adult humans."
Msichana,
thanks for the links..
Kismet's cool.He'd be banned within seconds here at SM. You should be so lucky,Sunny boy, with that mugshot you've pasted on CiF. The grief you got.
Mirax,
Nice to see you here ;)
I tend to post here comparatively more frequently than I do on PP -- I'm also a lot less serious here (usually) than I am on the other blog; the guys and gals here have probably got a slightly more accurate picture of my personality because of the length of time I've been participating here and the disparate range of topics often discussed (although Sunny does a very good job on PP too). It's an interesting place -- stick around.
I was going to stick up for Kismet but, after reading some of his comments on PP this weekend, I think you're right -- he'd be far too risque even for our American cousins ! (Probably a good thing, considering the topic of this thread and Kismet's various jokes on the matter during the similar recent debate on PP).
MoorNam is, to some extent, a Hindu version of our friend Ismaeel from PP, although he's far more polite and less prone to below-the-belt retaliation.
Anyway, let the animal-marriage debate continue.....
I checked out the discussion forum on the Yahoo site where this story was originally "reported." (I can't call that story a report, it's just a way for them to make fun of things that they don't understand.)
It's so sad how ignorant, rude, and generally hurtful all those posts were. I wanted to reply and explain a bit, but I'm not sure. Do you guys think I should? Or are those people just too ignorant to help? There are over 1650 posts on there, so I'm not sure it'd even make a difference.
thanks,
Sonia
And I still can't believe 2000 people showed up. All from the bride's side
It must have been the venomous invective of the groom's side that made them so unfriendly. Such snakes in the grass!
Anuja,
...laughing at ourselves..
Maybe it is a good thing at times to laugh at oneself.
To be fair AK it was pouring cats and dogs this weekend.
To be fair AK it was pouring cats and dogs this weekend.
Not that I was busy wooing them.
Is there a law in the Indian government that allows this, or is it an exception made on a case-by-case basis? Is the marriage legal outside of India? (almost certainly not)? What about caste?
Most weddings in India are not legal in the American sense. There is no piece of paper to say you are married. It is mainly a social contract. If the society around this woman approves of the wedding, most of her rights will be derived from this approval. Her society forms her social security system - which in many ways is a more efficient one than that provided to our American sisters who end up marrying dogs, pigs and rats of all types. It is utterly redundant to wax forth on legal rights. It may end up taking 25 years of court proceedings to resolve any issues, so even from a practical point of view it makes no sense.
I don't think we can be so literal minded about this wedding. How do we know how those villagers conceive of weddings? An entire village of 2000 people cannot be made up of perfect morons. There are at least 8 types of weddings recognized in the folklore and love is just one of them (Gandharva as someone pointed out above). Very often it is just used as a euphemism for a form of commitment or sacrifice. Sort of like saying someone's wedded to their work. Except that they actually perform a ceremony. Maybe the banana tree marriages are for those who intend not to get married or something. Anyway, it's good to know people are okay with same sex marriages at least. That's a start.
Sorry..messed it up
Here's the Shaadi ka Video
And just when I think the world can't get odder.
*sigh*
I'm kind of amused by this, I have to say. Hell, whatever works for her, right?
I hereby change my cock's name to Cobra
Now to arrange for that trip to India...
brilliant. cnn will even go half way around the world for this. going by the level of detail to which most of these outlets cover indian news in general, i classify this as plain voyeurism.
let these people be. if you ask me, most of the things we think are "weird" are just unfamiliar. lot of things that are "cultured" are just familiar that's all. reminds me of something that happened a little while back: a chinese friend of mine says she thinks milk smells horrible, and the very idea of drinking milk is revolting. but she says barbecued sparrows and coagulated pig's blood are delicacies. from her pov, it probably makes sense.
it is just conditioning that makes us think something is weird.
brilliant. cnn will even go half way around the world for this. going by the level of detail to which most of these outlets cover indian news in general, i classify this as plain voyeurism.
CNN-IBN is a New Delhi based 24 hrs news channel.
From their website: CNN-IBN is a partnership between Global Broadcast News (GBN), a TV18 Group Company, and Turner International (Turner) in India.
Mirax: Kismet would "be banned within seconds here at SM"
Jai: Kismet would be "far too risque even for our American cousins"
Your comments smack of intolerence and downright prejudice towards our American counterparts across the pind. How patronising to suggest that just because they are not British Asians, they cannot enjoy the simple god-given right to lovingly sellotape a hamster and dry-hump it so it doesn't explode?
Shame on you.
So I take it the SM/sado-massochism jokes have long been flogged to death here?
CNN-IBN is a New Delhi based 24 hrs news channel.
oh well. i always knew i was getting old. in my day, we used to kick all amriki news channels out, as well as coke for good measure. :)
so let me clarify. this is insignificant news. media that does not cover more significant stories regularly, but carries this, is just being voyeuristic.
Your comments smack of intolerence and downright prejudice towards our American counterparts across the pind. How patronising to suggest that just because they are not British Asians, they cannot enjoy the simple god-given right to lovingly sellotape a hamster ...
The question, though, is would your american counterparts know what sellotape is ?
Americans don't use sellotape? No wonder Richard Gere's hamster exploded all over the papers
I think it makes sense to me now and someone pointed it before as well. She seems to have married the snake as a symbol of Shiva.
Full name: Shiva the cobra
from what i know (atleast the brahmin rituals as practised today), the marriage is between a male and a female and one of the rituals is called kanyadaanam as it means giving away the girl. So, I am not so sure about Moornam's assertion that the marriage can be between any two living things under hinduism. (in the mind of the saffron folks in India even the depiction of homosexual relationships in india is a problem)
>I hereby change my cock's name to Cobra
Them rustic merkins probably think you have a pet rooster, kismet dear.
I checked out the discussion forum on the Yahoo site where this story was originally "reported." ... I wanted to reply and explain a bit, but I'm not sure. Do you guys think I should?
No, don't. Big news websites like Yahoo always have discussions like that. You know how trolls are supposed to be outsiders or otherwise unwelcomed commenters, and usually come in ones or twos?... well, the discussions on those big news sites consist almost entirely of trolls. For the most part, gender/race/culture/ethnicity "reports" do not have discussions, they have juvenile hate fests, so don't feed them.
Imagine the matrimonial ad
Suitable Cobra: male, simple minded family man, innocent divorcee no kids, 12 ft tall and handsom;
Diet: non-veg, Drinks:No, Smokes: No
Father runs rat extermination business, mother is now purse used by famous supermodel.
Caste:Ophiophagus, Sub-caste:Hannah. Seeks union with Homo Sapien or any high caste primate.
Neeraja, Neeraja. Surely they had the snake's biodata and made sure that he came from a good family....
AK is right. That snake must've had one kick-ass and mighty impressive biodata.
For those of you who are bummed at the prospects of not finding any suitable animals to marry and that there are no more out there, here is a biodata that might interest you.
If he/she interests you, please contact the Los Angeles zoo.
--Cheap Ass Desi
wow, Shruti cared when noone else did lol.
thanks Shruti.
Kismet Hardy,
I'm not sure about the sadomasochism jokes, although maybe people here just aren't willing to plumb those depths of humour. Or perhaps they're just waiting for someone suitably outrageous to turn up and revive the genre. We've already covered the topic of spanking on numerous occasions. Well alright, the last one mainly involved me, along with a willing bootylicious female SM commenter who will remain nameless.
It's interesting that you turn up here as soon as SM initiate a discussion topic involving dubious relationships with animals. Coincidence ? I think not.....
Ladies and Gentlemen of SM,
Kismet is one of my acquaintances from the British "Pickled Politics" blog. He's very funny, but if you thought I was badmaash, you ain't seen nothing yet -- Kismet takes it right off the scale.
My apologies in advance on his behalf ;)
Divya,
An entire village of 2000 people cannot be made up of perfect morons.
Considering some of the insanity that goes on in some villages back in India, I am afraid I must beg to differ.....
I'm speaking generally, and not about the village where the snake-marriage occurred, although it may well apply in this case too. I don't know.
Jai,
I'm both touched and choked
Touched by the gentle upward stroking motion of my left hand
Choked by the enormous pork sword I'm in the process of gobbling
Kismet miah,
When British people boast about being a "nation of animal-lovers", I don't think you were meant to take it literally.
You know what I'm talking about. Poor, unsuspecting Hanif the Hamster. May he rest in peace. He never saw you coming, did he. One squeak and the next thing he knew, Hamster Heaven.
oh puh-leese! apologize on his behalf - really Jai you're starting to sound a tad imperial there mate. if people can't take comments like the kind Kismet makes, they ought to have a kiddy AOL-style filter or sth.
!
PS Kismet, there's no point consoling yourself about Hanif getting those 72 (hamster) virgins. It still doesn't compensate for what you did to him.
And let's not even get started on your "dosti" with Gulbadan the Goat.
Sonia,
Note the ";)" I included at the end of the sentence you're quoting.
SIG:
I do realise you're joking, but thought I should point out that the IPC section here only talks about unnatural sexual acts, not marriage per se. Frankly, it'll be interesting to know about the Indian government recognises any marriage, or even, what would constitute recognition of a marriage in an Indian legal context.
That said guys, I think this is a new low for Sepia Mutiny.
That said guys, I think this is a new low for Sepia Mutiny.
you ain't seen nothing yet, baby. we reserve the right to joke about whatever we want. i thought neeraja's post was hilarious, personally, as were the first dozen or two responses before people started getting sanctimonious. be warned: pedantry and sanctimonious behaviour will only encourage us.
peace
Speaking of "only being encouraged," I just want to point out that over in the room next door, ANNA has just raised the spectre of dating an airbrushing tool.
The last line is the best "Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar." Just to let people know its ok to marry animals. Ok, so now how do they consumate the marraige?
The last line is the best "Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar." Just to let people know its ok to marry animals. Ok, so now how do they consumate the marraige?
Doggy Style.
What is PP pliz?
This is the most shocking of all. A cobra can get 2000 guests to come to its wedding in the heat of India in June and I cant get half my guests to come up past 14th street on a weekday.
I am sure if you were marrying a snake they would :)
As for the girl, may be the village was encouraged about prior story of a girl in Ranchi getting married to a dog. Every society has its own idiosyncracies. In US, people marry Michael Jackson.
PP is Pickled Politics
Dear Dr poetry in commotion: that was fun :)
And, PP, thanks!
Neeraja: good to hear you're an animal lover :). I've volunteered with animal rescue for years (in India and here in the US) and adopted three of the feral cats I worked with.
This is the most shocking of all. A cobra can get 2000 guests to come to its wedding in the heat of India in June and I cant get half my guests to come up past 14th street on a weekday.
Forget that - What's sad is that 2000 desis will come out to show their love for a woman marrying a snake, but I bet Rs.Ten lakhs they wouldn't have come out if she was marrying a black guy.
And let's not even get started on your "dosti" with Gulbadan the Goat
I have read this line about eight times today already and it still makes me crack up. Gulbadan the goat and Kaveri the Cow? What comes next?
Also, in keeping with the humorous mood of this post, does the cobra have a name? And what does the bride call herself? Mrs Cobra? Mrs Naagraj?
I have read this line about eight times today already and it still makes me crack up. Gulbadan the goat and Kaveri the Cow? What comes next?
A threesome with Farookh the Frog and Shahenshah the Sheep.
Although I think getting it on with Aurangzeb the Alligator would be going a little too far. Now that really is an example of a dangerous romance.
does the cobra have a name?
Ahh, you should know better than to ask that. A good Indian girl never refers to her husband by his name.
And what does the bride call herself?
Lucky to still be alive after the wedding night.
siddharta m:
'i thought neeraja's post was hilarious, personally, as were the first dozen or two responses before people started getting sanctimonious.'
It's a funny story. But even humor isn't pure or immune to criticism. Personally, I find stories like this in the media and our reaction and perception of them interesting. It poses a certain kind of conflict for me. On the one hand, it's humorous, but on the other hand, I am sick to death of bizarre stories from the East which are taken totally out of context and seem to serve no purpose whatsoever except to point out the freakishness of non-western culture. It's humor with a bad aftertaste, for me anyway.
Here's another one a friend forwarded me today: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=388901&in_page_id=1770
Anyway, I sort of agree with Divya. I don't think our notions of 'love' and 'marriage' are as portable as we would like. Although, if marriage is considered to be a social contract, it probably would have legal ramifications. But I don't think we should think of it through our own ideas of love and marriage. Anyway, all that has probably become obvious by now.
Cheerios,
a.
I might be repeating what many people have said on this story, but hey 'polly see, polly do'..
It is always easy to laugh at things taken out of their context, and to be honest I did find myself shaking my head and about to forward the link on to others with some suitably witty by-line. But as I read through to the end of this comment thread, I couldn't help but feel a little silly. Surely this is nothing more than a reaction to that particular woman's situation. She is 30, and has a number of younger siblings who need to be married off and settled and so on. I have heard of people who have been forced to marry, just so they 'smooth' the path for their siblings. Yeah, that old chestnut..
I say, fair play, marry a cobra instead of marrying some guy who could end up being a real a*sehole.
I am sick to death of bizarre stories from the East which are taken totally out of context and seem to serve no purpose whatsoever except to point out the freakishness of non-western culture.
Funny dilemma at work here. If this were not a desi-specific kind of forum, then perhaps we'd be pointing out everyone's freakishness and it wouldn't seem like non-western culture is being singled out. (Kind of like "Oddball" on "Countdown w/Keith Olbermann.") But since it's a desi-specific kind of forum, the opportunity to be or at least seem equal opportunity about freakishness isn't always there in quite the same way. I think that probably very few folks here would deny that there is plenty of western freakishness we could be talking and joking about as well....
I can't believe this post yielded 100+ comments.
I think that probably very few folks here would deny that there is plenty of western freakishness we could be talking and joking about as well....
yeah, like that pic of the white guy having sex with a chicken i saw the other day in an email forward as a response to this article
Neerja, this post once again shows your shallowness of looking towards your own heritage. I dont think you know or understand india.....u just pick up something bizzare and post it here. Are you just trying to make fun or thats your true attitude of looking towards india
puccahindustani
Neerja, this post once again shows your shallowness of looking towards your own heritage. I dont think you know or understand india.....u just pick up something bizzare and post it here. Are you just trying to make fun or thats your true attitude of looking towards india
Chill! It's her first funny post about India. Nice overgeneralization, by the way. Next time you laugh, pinch yourself for degrading our glorious heritage.
I liked the post as pointing to a culture that is more inclusive in its attitudes towards non-human creatures. Hence, a woman can marry a snake (and I totally agree with the analysis above as to the socio-economic reasons this might have happened) -- and, even though many of them might have thought it a bit strange/amusing themselves (not to miss the opportunity for free eaties), several people showed up and saw this as a possible 'marriage' to another living creature, Shiva or not.
Note: the snake is not being 'used' or abused physically, at least as far as this article reports, but is being accorded a certain 'respect' by the use of the word marriage.
One of the things I like about Indian culture is its often relatively not according human beings too much of a position of privilege :). Hence the ability to accept and even see as divine non-human animals.
Like the rest of you, I was conflicted in my response a little...and so, while I enjoyed the piece, this is the sort of news item I do NOT fw to my Amreekan friends, esp. those who are too apt to jump onto the easy criticism/exoticization of other cultures bandwagon.
Have there been other cases of women in India marrying snakes (symbolically)-- in mythology etc, does anyone know?
Finkie, well put. Mots juste.
Thanks, DesiDude in G.
And, while we're on the subject, I wonder if there are stories about 'marriages' to snakes in other cultures too. I seem to remember a native american story...but that was about a guy who turns into a snake, or was it a snake who turns into a guy at night...?
The high privileging of human beings and notion that all other non-human creatures can be used and exploited by us largely derives from (dare I say it...hey Saffron Spoor -- my preferred choice of 'new' name for you :)-- am I allowed to use your favourite word??) Abrahamic tradition.
There is enough literature and mention of human-animal relations / hybridization etc., and especially in classical 'western' literature:
- The minotaur: A sacred bull having sex with a greek Goddess, results in a cross bred extremely confused dude / bull that has a liking for labyrinths and devouring virgins.
- Satyrs: Human-goat hybrids, again with a strange liking for nymphs, beautiful women who tend to fall asleep by ponds.
- The little mermaid: There was THAT story about a woman marrying a dolphin
- The frog / prince duality.
- The Jungle book!
See, you read all these fairy tales and stories. Nobody told me 'Maaan, thats strange', but then a woman who decided to marry a snake (note, no mention of human snake hybrids here) is big news? Suuuurely that is unfair.
Meera bai took krishna as her husband. In south India there is a place called Savadatti where young women and Hijras marry a goddess(shakti). It is not about marrying an animal or stone, it is about giving up physical gratification.
pedantry and sanctimonious behaviour will only encourage us.
damn straight!
I don't know why these debauched Westerners with their Abrahmically-inspired hypocrisy and NRIs (Non-Required Indians) suffering from desi Stockholm Syndrome are pointing their monotheistic fingers accusingly at our pious Indian sisters, while making snarky comments about conjugal activities with scaly husbands who can apparently do all kinds of naughty tantric activities with their forked tongues. Western society itself has not been immune to such human-reptile interspecies canoodling.
I remember a certain Nastassja Kinski posing with a certain slithery friend in a certain famous photograph during the halcyon days of the 1980s, when every desi man had an Amitabh haircut, Doordarshan was the only television channel you had access to (if you were lucky), and Mallika Sherawat wasn't even an hourglass-shaped blip on the horizon yet.
(In)famous snake pic (vaguely NSFW).
Hail eBay !
Just in case you missed this most apposite 55:
Did you read that story about that woman who married that snake, back in India? he called out to her, as he sat on the sofa browsing the internet.
Is that right? she replied, arms immersed in dishwashing.
Yeah, but the snake didnt show up to the wedding!Read about it? Please, Im living it.
Isn't The King Singh great at flashing fiction? :D
(bows)
I have my moments :)
When Sepia shows up on the scene before Colbert Report: http://movies.crooksandliars.com/TCR-Snakes.mov
:)
Keep an eye out for a lot more stories like these, since Rome has now expressed its desire to convert the poor souls in India! Tragic, since "The Eternal Way" is indeed a beautiful religion. Sanatana Darhma, a global religion in renaissance, is crying out for some structure from the Hindu councils across the world.
I do have pity for these people, and am extremely angry at those responsible for their education. In my view, these priests have not followed the Vedic edict of righteousn