Murang'a Woman Who Got Married To Indian Husband Painfully Narrates Watching Son's Cremation

• Alice, a Kenyan woman, faced significant cultural differences in her 28-year marriage to an Indian man, which led to their separation
• Alice met her ex-husband while still in high school, where he was her teacher and they got married
• She narrated enduring the painful experience of watching her son's cremation, which was a deeply traumatic event for her

A Murang'a woman has opened up on the challenges she faced after getting married to an Indian man whose culture clashed with hers consistently during their 28-year union.

Alice narrated that she met her now ex-husband while she was still a high school student, and he was her teacher. She recalled being head over heels in love with him and could not wait to get married to him.

In an interview with TUKO.co.ke, Alice said that their relationship blossomed, and she would later take him to her parents for an introduction when she was ready to settle down with him.

During this meeting with her parents, the lovers' different cultures started colliding, but this did not alarm Alice, who, back then, could not envision her life without him.

"During the introduction, the issue of dowry came up, and my dad wanted to know when he would bring the bride price as is the Kikuyu custom, but to our utter surprise, the Indian man told my parents that they were the ones supposed to give him goodies as the groom-to-be as that is what happens in the Indian culture," she narrated.

Alice's dad declined the Indian man's request, so the lovers proceeded with their nuptials without either of the families offering a bride price due to the contrasting cultures.

However, 28 years later, Alice's marriage is irretrievably broken as the cultural difference made it difficult to thrive

"My parents vehemently warned me against marrying the man, but I ignored them. Looking back, I wish I did. Because as much as my then-husband and I had agreed that I would continue being a Christian and him a Hindu, the birth of our children made me change a lot. I had even changed to Hinduism," she added.

Watching son's cremation

The Kenyan woman also narrated witnessing her son's cremation after he died in an accident.

"When my son died, we followed the Hindu customs, and it was so painful for me. I was present at the crematorium. I saw the firewood on his body and watched as his body turning to ashes. This was a very difficult moment for me because I have only ever known burying a dead loved one," she said.

Alice, who also shared videos from the crematorium on the day her son was being cremated, said she is yet to recover from the incident, which she described as painful

"I remember when he died, he was first taken to the morgue. On the day of cremation, he could not be put in a coffin as that's not the culture. We carried his body wrapped in a bedsheet, and I was made to watch the cremation," she said.

The woman advised couples considering inter-cultural marriage to do due diligence and not to be blinded by love.

"It is important for couples to interrogate their partners' culture well before marriage so as not to face some of the things I faced in my marriage," she said.

African man goes viral after marrying Indian bride

In a separate story, a video from the wedding of an African man and his Indian lover went viral on TikTok.

The clip shared by @grakeshots on the platform had gathered over 600k views as netizens gushed over the lovebirds.

Dressed in Indian attire, the lovebirds were joined as a couple in a colourful wedding like in Bollywood movies.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke