[Lifestyle] Navigating interfaith relationships: 6 couples share their stories

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he was on a trip to Rajasthan with her daughter and relatives; he was their tempo traveller’s driver. They got to know each other but did not keep in touch. A year later, they reconnected on a work trip, and she discovered he was the owner of the travel company. “The driver had canceled at the last minute. How could I leave you guys in the lurch?” he said to her. She was impressed.  After all, where are the honest, upstanding men anymore? Cut to the present, Mr and Mrs Singh are now happily married. This heartening meet-cute, reminiscent of the Deepika Padukone-Irrfan Khan movie Piku, ended in a happily ever after, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. He was a 34-year-old Sikh from Punjab, and she was a 42-year-old divorced ‘Bangalan’ with a teenage daughter. Their age gap and different faiths posed challenges, especially with his family, she tells me. Their story reflects a growing trend of interfaith relationships, like Parsi-Christian couples such as the Zaiwallas, Hindu-Sikh couples like the Singhs, Hindu-Muslim couples like Divya and Kashif, and Bollywood stars like Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal. We spoke to five couples about navigating their interfaith relationships, right from dealing with their relatives to reaching a compromise with each other, and even bringing up kids together.Sara Hussain and Julian Manning, once colleagues who couldn’t stand each other, now share an ‘enemies to lovers’ story. “He was so annoying,” says Sara. Together for eight years now, they say they had it a “little easier” since neither actively practices their religions—Islam and Christianity.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/feelings/6-couples-inter-faith-relationships-sonakshi-sinha-zaheer-iqbal-hindu-muslim-christian-sikh-9434009/