Paper Summary:

This research paper attempts to show that the Indian Hindu wedding feast has changed its form and content, but its meanings in terms of family politics, social and religious norms have not changed. The dissertation includes evidence that can prove that, despite globalization, modernization, and import of western ideas and cultures, the function of the weeding feast has not changed despite the changes in the form and content. In other words, while the cuisine elements due to additional foods and spices being introduced have changed, the tradition of the consumption of food and the meanings behind this consumption have continued to remain the same over time.


Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
Research Questions
Significance of the Research
Methodology
Literature Review
The Caste System In India
The Hindu Marriage Ceremony
The Woman in the Society and Family Hierarchy in India
Food, Eating, and the Wedding Feast in India
Review of the Literature Reviewed In this Study

From the Paper:

"The work of Bloch, Rao and Desai relates that the marriage of a daughter in India in the costliest event in the life of this family which many times results in the parents of the daughter getting into great debt with interest rates "of over 200 percent." The expenditure on food for a wedding is stated to be "more than six times a family's annual income" and many times forces the family into "destitution and bonded labor, especially when there are several daughters to be married." Gender discrimination that occurs in India has been attributed to this specific economic burden."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aklujkar, Vidyut (2004) Sharing the Divine Feast: Evolution of Food Metaphor in Marathi Sant Poetry., Online available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=UCt5tSHfyMkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=India:+Gastronomy#PPA53,M1
• Allen, Martha Sawyer (2001) Tying the Knot. Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN. 23 June 2001. Online available at: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SAL0000-0-5667&artno=0000139119&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=N
• Appadurai, Arjun (1981) Gastro-Politics in Hindu South Asia. American Ethnologist, Vol. 8 No. 3 Symbolism and Cognition Aug 1981. Online available at: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0094-0496%28198108%298%3A3%3C494%3AGIHSA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V
• Chopra, Anuj (2006) India Tackles Child Marriages. Christian Science Monitor 24 May 2006.
• Ghosh, Shohini (2002) The Long History of Everday Communalism. Sexuality, Obscenity and Community - Women, Muslims, and the Hindu Public in Colonial India. Kathmandu, Nepal. July 2002. Online available at: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SAL0000-0-5667&artno=0000156203&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=N

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