Lexington Books
Pages: 136
Trim: 6⅛ x 9
978-0-7391-3854-0 • Hardback • December 2009 • $92.00 • (£71.00)
978-0-7391-3855-7 • Paperback • April 2011 • $45.99 • (£35.00)
978-1-4616-7156-5 • eBook • December 2009 • $43.50 • (£33.00)
Dr. Kavita Ramdya is an independent researcher in American Studies. For more information on Kavita and Bollywood Weddings check out her website at http://www.bollywood-weddings.com/Home.html.
Chapter 1 The Marriage Market: Choosing a Suitable Boy
Chapter 2 The Engagement Proposal: To Dower or To Diamond?
Chapter 3 Wearing Ethnicity: The Indian-American Hindu Bridal Industry
Chapter 4 Pre-Wedding Rituals: Maintaining Both Indian-Hindu and Mainstream-American Traditions
Chapter 5 The Wedding Day: Improvising on Hindu and American Traditions
Well- researched....The book speaks to those who are searching for their life partner, or are seeking answers to what marriage means to second-generation Indian Americans who want to balance their Indian and American identities.
— Khabar
Ramdya approaches the subject of love vs arranged marriages in a thoughtful and modern way....Bollywood Weddings provides matter-of-fact insight supported by data, methodology, a glossary and real-life examples of Hindu-American relationships in the context of marriage. An interesting book, no doubt, and recommended to all South Asian readers.
— Bibi Magazine
Kavita Ramdya has given readers an excellent, empathetic window into second generation Indian-American Hindu couples who are navigating multiple ethnicities through this major life rite of passage, marriage. She argues that second generation weddings are not simply about negotiating two cultures, but three—the third being modern-day Bollywood culture. It is a brilliant observation and a sign of a new generation of scholar who knows how important consideration of the popular is in terms of one's research and findings among contemporary topics and when doing ethnographic work.
— Boston University, Donna Freitas, Boston University
The writer openly, quizzically, and honestly peers into the depths and subtleties of the marital patterns of Indian-American Hindus from the latter half of the twentieth century to today. Ramdya's research and findings are enhanced by wedding couples' personal thoughts and interviews. It is a fascinating interplay, mingling contrasting insights in an exposé on the symbiotic rapport of Indian and American marriage customs, from the first meeting to the reception party. Bollywood Weddings also goes beyond marital culture into what it's like to be a second generation Hindu in the US. It's a rich commentary on American sociology and the Indian-American experience as a whole.
— Hinduism Today
An ethnographic study of Indian Americans in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It is an experiential account of second-generation negotiation between the tradition of the parental generation and the norms of love and courtship in a Western or rather global world....The book is an interesting read and will appeal to American as well as Indian audiences beyond academia. Ramdya’s style is typically second generation, engaging and confident.
— Journal Of Intercultural Studies
The book gives a very clear insight not only into the minds of Hindu Americans but the present generation of Non Resident Indians who might have never been to India but still try to maintain a balance between the two cultures.... All I can say is that it is a very engaging book that hooks you once you have started.
— Asian Voice