A 24-year-old girl in Gujarat is all set to marry herself on June 11 in India's first sologamy, according to reports.
Vadodara-native Kshama Bindu is preparing for her wedding next week as a commitment towards oneself and “an act of self-acceptance”.
Bindu, a recruiter with a Pune-based company, said that she was inspired by the Canadian web series “Anne with an E”.
Sologamy or autogamy is marriage by a person to themselves. Supporters of the practice argue that it affirms one's own value and leads to a happier life.
“Self-marriage is a commitment to being there for yourself, to choosing the livelihood and lifestyle that will help you grow and blossom into the most alive, beautiful, and deeply happy person you can be,” said Bindu.
Her philosophy is that "every woman wants to be a bride but not a wife".
She said she used to say affirmation and wedding vows to herself in a mirror. “... the idea stayed with me but I never had the courage to actually do it in reality until now.”
Bindu said sologamy is symbolic and her family and friends have been supportive.
“I think women marrying themselves might seem incredibly threatening because it looks like we are saying men are irrelevant, but we are actually just saying that we matter," she waa quoted as saying by local newspapers.
According to her, it is no longer necessary to conform to societal norms of what a marriage or a wedding should be in this modern era of same-sex marriages.
"We are not some kind of en masse movement of weird, narcissistic women or cult,” she added.
Bindu also revealed that she tried to look for any woman who had married herself or had practised sologamy in India but couldn’t find any.
She now claims that her marriage might be the first instance of “self-love” in the country.
Reports said that, except for the groom, her wedding will have all the elements that are seen when two individuals tie the knot.
She will perform the rituals, wear the vermilion and she has even written five vows for herself. Post-wedding, she will leave for a two-week Goa trip.
Damian Talbot
Nirmala Sitharaman speaks at the India-UK Investor Roundtable in London last Wednesday (9). On the panel were India’s department of economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth and Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak
Sitharaman with Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves
Sitharaman with Jonathan Reynolds 
Sitharaman with Reynolds, Alastair King, India’s high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and other delegates