Indian interracial dating--Must be vegetarian to marry?

Question

Say, the guy is Indian (Jain) and he (and his family) are vegetarians. If his girlfriend was non-vegetarian, would she need to be vegetarian in order for them to marry? I know his family might have a problem with that. And if they have any kids? Are the kids expected to be brought up as vegetarians? Can you provide me with some insight into the Indian culture and family? Thanks!

Answer 1

It depends on particular person/family. Can not say in general.

Answer 2

First of all, there's no one "Indian culture" - India is a very diverse country, with a number of different religions and cultural groups within it. So it's difficult to give a specific answer to this question without knowing exactly where the guy's family comes from.

That being said, most Jains, like the guy & his family , are vegetarian. And most are fairly religiously observant. How willing they will be to accept a daughter-in-law who is not Jain & not vegetarian will probably depend on how flexible they are as a family, and how flexible they are in their interpretation of their religion.

Jainism, as you might know, is closely related to Hinduism, which is a religion with a whole spectrum of beliefs and customs. My Hindu husband's family has fully accepted me into their family, although I'm fairly irreligious - they don't see any problem or conflict between my lifestyle & their family's traditional lifestyle. However, this is not necessarily true of all Hindu families - some more orthodox followers would find it very wrong to marry outside of the faith. I suspect this is similar with Jains.

For this guy's family's specifics, it would probably be best to ask him, or his family members, what their expectations would be regarding marriage and kids. They're your best source of information about their particular beliefs! If they do want to maintain a vegetarian family, including their son's wife & eventual kids, then you'll have to ask yourself whether this is an acceptable lifestyle change for you. There are many Westerners who find, with a little experimentation, that they enjoy a vegetarian diet. Other people (such as my Hindu husband!) can't imagine a meal without meat.

Finally, if you'd like to learn a little bit more about Indian culture(s), especially from a Western point of view, try checking out my blog, gorigirl.com