When I married
an Indian man, I knew that I was in for a culture shock. I mean, I was prepared
for it – he did his best to help me prepare for it! Even so, I was very
nervous. I remember the first time I was going with him to meet his parents.
Mind you, I didn’t meet them until after we had married because they still live
in India. But I was just so determined to impress them – I think I stayed up at
night for a week, fretting over it. I wanted to make sure that I would make the
right first impression on them. I wanted to show them that I was open to their
culture and I wasn’t just some American girl who expected everyone to conform
to her whims.
Naturally, as an
American girl, my solution to this was shopping. During one of my sleepless
nights, I pulled up the Ahaarya website, which my sister-in-law recommended to
me. I know that clothing isn’t everything, but in my mind at that moment,
looking like I was familiar with Indian outfits for women was the way to
make a good first impression. So, I started shopping. I bought some Indian
kurtis online for the more casual affairs and for traveling –
day-to-day kind of stuff. Then, for parties that we would apparently be
undoubtedly attending, I bought some party wear salwar
kameez online. I felt quite prepared by the end of it!
Buying a bunch
of Indian outfits for women, obviously, did not fully prepare me for all
India had in store, but I can’t deny that it made a different, knowing that I
was arriving in something that made me feel comfortable.
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