On a chilly November night, a group of friends, all from India, had a party in a bar in Delhi.
They had come to celebrate the anniversary of their wedding.
The celebration was meant to be an informal, communal gathering, with no big events planned.
But when the drinks began to run out, it turned into a full-blown celebration.
“Everyone was excited, so we kept drinking,” said Gyanesh, a 23-year-old who came with her husband, a 25-year old from Kerala.
They started to dance and sing.
And then the champagne flowed.
The guests danced with their friends and danced to their music.
At one point, someone even got into a fistfight with the crowd.
The next night, the couple’s friends took over the bar and the celebrations continued.
But the night before the wedding, Gyanash was at a party with a friend, and she didn’t want to go out.
“I told him, ‘I can’t go because of the party,'” she said.
“I didn’t tell him I was going to marry him because of this party.”
That was three years ago.
Gyanosh said that after that party, she felt more comfortable about her marriage.
“It’s a very simple decision.
I’m not married because of my age, I’m married because I love him.
And I love his love,” she said, adding that she still considers him her husband.
Her friend and her family, however, have not been happy with the decision.
“When we were going out, I said to her, ‘You can’t do this, I don’t want your daughter to be in the same situation,'” Gyanush said.
Gyanash’s husband’s family also doesn’t want their daughter to marry a Muslim woman.
While the Indian Supreme Court upheld Gyanos decision to get married, the High Court in New Delhi had asked the government to make it easier for Hindu couples to get engaged.
So the couple decided to go ahead with their wedding on Monday.
They started with the traditional Hindu wedding, but the groom and the bride were both Muslim.
After the wedding ceremony, the groom, who was dressed in a traditional turban and turban-like headgear, stood in front of the bride, and the two kissed.
“We have to make our way to the next phase,” Gyanish said.
But the ceremony was not without controversy.
“The guests were not really happy with it,” Ghanush said, as they started to leave.
“And when we got to the exit, a Muslim girl approached us and said, ‘This is a Muslim wedding.’
I told her, that was her wedding dress, but she said that I had to put my head in her hand.”
Ghanush’s friends were not happy either.
“She started to curse at us, and said ‘You will be the last Muslims we will ever have,'” Ghanish said, and then they all got into their cars and drove away.
On Sunday, the same evening, the government started issuing marriage licenses for the first time in India.
It was expected to take six to eight weeks to complete the process.
Even if the process is completed, there are still some hurdles.
For example, many people in the Muslim community do not have birth certificates.
In addition, there is also a small minority of people who have never been married before.
Ghanus marriage has not been finalized yet, and her and her husband are currently planning their next move.
“They will decide if they want to stay together or not,” she added.
“There’s no time left.”
