If you are dating someone of Indian descent there may come a time that you hear the words, “I want you meet my family in India.” Heading to India is a big deal if your significant other’s extended family lives there, or if they still reside in India. My husband’s parents left India for America in the 1970’s without any other family or friends. To this day, all of their siblings still live in India.
Hence when we took our first family trip to India you can imagine there were a lot of people to meet. Luckily social media exists and it definitely aided me in remembering faces and names prior to our trip. For those of you that are thinking of traveling to India while you are still dating, or engaged here are our 7 things you must tell your significant other before heading to India.
7 THINGS YOU MUST TELL YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER BEFORE HEADING TO INDIA
1.) Make sure your significant other knows some of your familial language. Rosetta Stone and Pimseleur are great resources along with books and YouTube.
2.) Make sure your significant other is comfortable wearing the clothing that is traditionally worn in the region of India that you are from. Need a guidebook? Check ours out for women and children.
3.) Find out what your immediate family has told your extended family in India about the relationship.
4.) If you are still dating or engaged you will not be allowed to sleep in the same room. And even more kissing, holding hands, basic public displays of affection are not allowed–not even in public.
5.) Listen to your significant other and take their lead on the social and family customs. Make sure to ask tons of questions and do your own research about where the family lives in India. This way you won’t be completely off guard and confused when it comes to culture and customs. Such as: touching of the elders feet, snacks before meals, what to wear when you go to different relatives homes etc. There is a lot to remember and take in.
6.) If your significant other has never been to India before or a third world country you must prepare them for the impending cultural shock. Restrooms on the side of the road, no rules of the road, complete families on moped’s, heavy pollution etc. Check out our guidebook on Intercultural Travel to India and also these must-haves for India.
7.)Make sure your significant other is comfortable eating different types of Indian food.
*Bonus –if there is no tension due to your interracial/intercultural relationship, ask your significant other if it is okay for you to befriend their family in India on social media. And who you should befriend in particular as well as what you should call them etc. You can follow them on social media and get a feel for who they are etc.
**Bonus–you will need an E-visa and passport if traveling from the U.S. to India. E-visa’s can be obtained online and are valid for 30 days. https://goindiavisa.com/page/visa-for-India-for-us-citizens?gclid=CKSa1_Wv5tICFUkbgQodTqENxQ
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so many great tips esp about no touching, kissing part as well as various social customs..
Thank you for reading!
A lot to take in and think about if this is new to a person. Best to do research ahead of time to stay in the know. Good tips!
Yes, it is! Thanks for reading!
In many larger cities people do wear western clothing and you will find couples holding hands and kissing in public. Also one of the hottest fashion designers in the country is a Black-Indian woman called Masaba Gupta born and brought up in India and married to an Indian.
Your blog is just full of negative stereotypes which is understandable as neither you nor your husband have actually lived there. This blog is more likely to discourage westerners from inter-racial relationships.
This post is from our own experience. We actually went to India for over a month in 2015. Couples did not hold hands or kiss in public in Delhi, Calcutta, or many of the other cities we visited. As an African American I was stared at by random strangers and had pictures taken of me for no reason other than being African-American. It is great that a Black Indian woman is one of the hottest fashion designers in India. This post was created to help create awareness and that is all for our readers–knowledge is power. Last, our blog is not full of stereotypes but realities we face as an interracial couple. This blog is intended to create empowerment for interracial/multiracial/multicultural couples of all walks of life. Unfortunately, racism in many parts of India is still very strong against Africans/African-Americans please see the article in the times of India recently published this past Sunday called Romance in a time of racism. Thank you for writing.
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