THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Her affair may be deemed as an unseemly act of defiance. Her decision may shock her faithful folks. But Febna Rahim, a 25-year-old Muslim girl from here, is absolutely sure of herself.On Sunday, with the blessings of her family, she will marry Andrew James Caven, an American who is three years older, a few inches taller and certain degrees fairer than her.Her father, Rahim will give her hand in marriage to his bearded son-in-law in purely Indian style.The ceremony will be shorn off the slightest trace of any of the religious flavours.In the presence of their parents, the lovers will exchange a ring along with gifts and Andrew will make Febna his own with a golden ‘thali’.“We do not mean to cause any sort of unrest within our community with our decision.All we want is to ensure the happiness of our daughter and at the same time the goodwill of society.“We thought this would be the best way to do that and we are certain God will bless us,” say Rahim and Shyla Begum, parents of Febna.“Ever since I realised that Febi is the one I really want in my life, I knew it was not going to be easy. It was not just about the distance. We had to break prejudices and conventions. I am glad we could actually get through all these, though it was hard,” he says.A few months back at a meditation centre in north India, Andrew and Febna exchanged garlands under a tree.They then returned home and got married again, this time in the presence of Febna’s grandmother.“She has been a strong believer of Islam all through her life.Surprisingly, she is our greatest support and when she asked if we could marry chanting Quran hymns, Andrew was only happy to do that,” says Febna.Andrew, a wildlife ecologist, met Febna for the first time during her internship in New Orleans.Febna is a post graduate in Social Science from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.After the marriage, the couple will have to catch different flights.Febna will fly to Costa Rica as part of her assignment with UN Institute of Peace and Andrew to US to rejoin duty.
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