From early on in my life I very clearly remember thinking that if we want equal rights as women, we need to take on equal duties as well. So I acted accordingly. When I was married off at 19 through an arranged marriage, I made my own life. Never asked for my parent’s financial help. I am an adult. I ought to find my own means. I would send money home and helped my brother to settle in the US and paid for sibling marriages. For me, if women want equality, they need to stand shoulder to shoulder to the boys in the family to share the duties. These believes are routed in the Sikh faith at its core. KAUR is the last name given to Sikh women, which means the crown prince representing equality as the crown prince is entitled to the inheritance. Indian law also gives women equal rights to inheritance, then why so many Indian especially Punjabi families insist on excluding girl’s from their legal rights.
Sonia Dhillon-Marty