Kshama Bindu, a sociology graduate and ‘digital creator’ from the blowestern state of Gujarat, is set to marry herself in a traditional Hindu ceremony attended by family and friends in the city of Vadodara on June 11.
The 24-year-old says the marriage will be ‘a deep act of self-acceptance’ and she will dedicate herself to a life of ‘self-love’, before taking herself for a two-week honeymoon around the southern state of Goa.
But experts say the marriage will not be legal, as others accused her of being an ‘attention seeker’.
‘You can live with yourself without marrying yourself, You are just an attention seeker, & you played well,’ one Twitter user wrote.
Speaking to India’s NDTV, Bindu said: ‘I realised that I don’t require a prince charming because I am my own queen. I want the wedding day, but not the next day.
‘That is why I have decided to marry myself on June 11. I will dress up like a bride, take part in rituals, my friends will attend my wedding and then I will come back to my house instead of going with the groom.’
In an interview with the BBC, she added that celebrations will begin early on June 11 with a traditional Haldi bath – in which tumeric mixed with oil and water is applied all over the body as a blessing for a good marriage.
Sangeet, another traditional ceremony featuring music and dancing, will also take place the same morning.
Bindu will then have her hands painted with henna and her hair marked with vermilion powder before going to the temple.
Once there, she will light a sacred fire and take seven steps around it – a tradition usually undertaken by both partners – alone.
After returning home, she will head off to Goa for two weeks of holiday by herself.
Bindu, who identifies as bisexual, said she has the approval of her father – an engineer from South Africa – and mother – also an engineer, from Ahmedabad – for the ‘groom-less’ ceremony.
‘I have already booked a priest to solemnise my marriage,’ she added.
‘I have observed that unlike in the West, self marriages are not popular in India.
‘Hence, I have decided to start this trend and inspire others. People may not like my idea, butI am confident that I am doing the right thing.’
But Krishnakant Vakharia, a lawyer at India’s High Court, said the law stipulates that it takes two people to make a marriage – and that ‘sologamy’ would not be recognised as legitimate.
Chandrakant Gupta, another senior lawyer, added: ‘The Hindu Marriage Act uses the terminology ‘either of the spouse’, which simply means that there must be two persons to complete the marriage.
‘Sologamy will never stand up to legal scrutiny.’
