Meet The Lady Pundit For Whom Love Is In All Shades Of The Rainbow

With the coming of a new era that promises the rise of feminism and the hope to break the ever existing glass ceiling, female-led ventures are the need of the hour. And somewhere across the globe, there exists a humble female Hindu pundit who provides progressive, inclusive and LGBTQ+ friendly services. Of Indian origin, but based out of NYC, Sushma dreams of a world where everyone has the right to be and get married just as their heart desires.

It all started at her own big fat Indian wedding, where she gained an insight into the parallelism between her life and that of her trans sibling-in-law. The discrimination that people from the LGBTQ+ community face worried her, compelling her to provide help in any which way she could. 'Purple represents spirit within the LGBTQ rainbow. Indians in the LGBTQ community are a spirited minority within a spirited minority', states Sushma, when opening up about how the name Purple Pundit Project came about. The run of the mill Pundit stuff, she performs gay weddings, straight weddings, baby naming's, housewarmings and a variety of pujas. 

Weaving cultural nuances into the mix, Sushma 'strips out anything that reeks of misogyny, patriarchy or otherwise offensive rhetoric, sticking to progressive and inclusive tenets.' Hoping to make her own respected place in a formerly male-dominated profession, she wishes to be rendered completely obsolete in that all pundits become more progressive and inclusive. According to her, 'All you need is love in this world, and being a part of someone's love story is a privilege.' 

She also mentioned that, 'The added bonus for a couple who is LGBTQ is often simply in providing them with the respect and courtesy they might not have received in their search. Statistically, it can take a South Asian person who is gay, up to 7 tries to find a pundit, unless they are unable to find one at all. It may also be difficult for straight South Asians, incase they are having an inter-faith or inter-racial wedding.' And that's where Sushma comes in! So much so, that in 2018 she officiated a wedding in the hospital while she was in labor herself.

In today's day and age, we surely require a larger number of women, who are willing to step up and pass the baton of love and hope to the coming generations. Just like Sushma Dwivedi Jindal is doing so, one mantra and one relationship at a time.