Single Mother Performs Her Daughter's 'Kanyadaan', Breaks All Stereotypes

Rajeshwari Sharma, a single mother, performed her daughter Sandhya’s ‘kanyadaan’ or the ritual of ‘giving away’, defying the centuries-old tradition

Instagram/Varun Suresh

Chennai: Breaking all stereotypes and a tight slap to patriarchy, a single mother in Chennai recently performed the 'kanyadaanam' of her daughter. Rajeshwari Sharma, performed her daughter Sandhya’s ‘kanyadaan’ or the ritual of ‘giving away’, defying the centuries-old tradition. Chennai photographer Varun Suresh, uploaded the album on to his photography blog on the occasion of the couple's first wedding anniversary.

This photograph and the story behind it is being told on the internet now thanks to few kind people. A dear friend yelled at me a few hours ago asking me why I don't even know the very basic of social media protocols. Apparently the photo needs to be on my Instagram handle the first thing. So, here it is along with few moments that followed. Once again cheers to Sandhya, sam, Raji and all the kind people out there who are making this important story known. P.S : @sanjitadas this is fine no? :)

A post shared by Varun Suresh (@shotstoriesbyvarunsuresh) on Feb 1, 2018 at 9:12pm PST

Rajeshwari Sharma, who hails from a conservative Tamil Brahmin family herself, had moved to Australia with her husband, when she was just 21, reported The News Minute. But after almost 17 years of marriage, Rajeshwari and her husband mutually decided to part ways. When her daughter, Sandhya, decided to get married to Sam, an Australian, Rajeshwari decided to be the one who had to give her away in marriage. And that's what she did. The heartwarming photo and the lovely story has now gone viral on social media and attracted a lot of attention. Even Shashi Tharoor tweeted about it:

Terrific story of a single mother who performed kanyadaan for her daughter: https://t.co/Z9xCiMGKj2 — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 31, 2018

 

More power to women..way to go..???????????????????????? https://t.co/Q7lBG7MiOj

— khushbusundar (@khushsundar) January 31, 2018

Rituals and practices are for people, not the other way around. Beautiful example of a mother who's single handedly brought up her daughter going ahead single handedly in her कन्यादान too. https://t.co/yWRCLG8Bpx — Chitra Sarwara (@ChitraSarwara) February 1, 2018

This story inspires me as a single mother. Whether you are divorced, widowed, or never married, Kanyadaan (kanya=woman, daan=donate) in India is not a practice for single women is it? https://t.co/QYWFpVTGUv

— Rhea Brown (@ParentalPowWow) February 1, 2018