‘Who can love you more than yourself?’: Indian woman plans to marry herself in sologamy wedding ceremony

In what may be India’s first case of a sologamy ceremony, an Indian woman is choosing to marry herself during a traditional Hindu wedding on June 11.

Kshama Bindu, a 24-year-old sociology student and blogger, will be holding her wedding in a temple in Vadodara, India, where she plans to marry herself.

In an interview with BBC, Bindu explained that she will be wearing a red bridal dress with henna on her hands and vermilion powder in her hair parting as she performs the traditional seven rounds around a sacred fire.

Bindu said she wishes to marry herself as it gives her the opportunity to dedicate herself to a lifestyle of “self-love” and to become a “deeply happy person.”

“Many people tell me I’m a great catch. I tell them, ‘I caught myself’,” Bindu told BBC. “It’s my way of showing that I’m accepting all the different parts of me, especially the parts of myself that I have tried to deny or disown such as my weaknesses – be they physical, mental or emotional. For me, this marriage is really a deep act of self-acceptance. What I’m trying to say is that I accept myself – all of me, even the parts that don’t look pretty.”

With the blessing of her family, Bindu’s family and friends will be attending her sologamy wedding ceremony on June 11.

“My mom said, ‘Oh, you always think of something new.’ But my parents, who are very open-minded, took it in their stride. They said, ‘As long as it makes you happy, we’re fine with it,'” she added.

Bindu’s upcoming ceremony sparked a debate among internet users, where some praised the 24-year-old for being an inspiration while others criticized her for being a narcissist.

In response to her critics, Bindu said she wants to normalize sologamy and “to tell people that you come into the world alone and you leave it alone.”

“So who can love you more than yourself? If you fall, it’s you who [is] going to have to pick yourself up,” Bindu said.

Feature Images via BBC News Telugu

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