Review: The Bride by Harimohan Jha, translated by Lalit Kumar
A novel about Indian matchmaking originally written in Maithili in 1930, The Bride (Kanyadan) offers an intimate portrayal of Mithila society in the colonial period. The author Harimohan Jha was a lifelong crusader against oppressive social practices and he dedicated the book, among others, to “a society that gives away its daughters in marriage as commodities without any qualms.”
Shashi Kapoor and Asha Parekh in the Hindi film "Kanyadaan" in a picture dated 11 January 1969 (HT Archive)
The story begins with…