Abstract
The practice of gift giving on official occasions in the Garhwal Himalayas is subject to a number of tacit rules. For example, the quality and quantity of gifts given before, during, and after a wedding ceremony are carefully recorded so that when the time arrives to reciprocate in the event of another wedding, the return gifts correspond appropriately. Giving and receiving gifts are part of the negotiations in the normative order of Garhwal through which social relationships are established. In recent years, gifts have become markers of crucial shifts in values attached to young brides and grooms while, at the same time, discourses on love and young people’s attitudes about marriage have also changed significantly. The practice of gift giving in relationships of love and friendship has become important to young Garhwali people, for whom acts of gift giving are strongly connected with ideas of romantic love. These acts are also part of new friendship networks and bonds of love between young men and women outside of marriage.
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Polit, K. Gifts of Love and Friendship: On Changing Marriage Traditions, the Meaning of Gifts, and the Value of Women in the Garhwal Himalayas. Hindu Studies 22, 285–307 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-018-9234-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-018-9234-4