While festivals like Diwali, Holi, and Durga Puja are joyous, they reveal a complex cultural reality. For women, these moments often translate into weeks of invisible labor—cleaning, cooking vast meals, preparing sweets (mithai), and managing guest lists. However, they also serve as powerful social networks. The act of sharing laddoos with neighbors or applying mehendi (henna) with cousins is a vital form of female bonding and cultural transmission.
Marriage remains the most significant cultural milestone. Despite rising love marriages, the Arranged Marriage system still governs roughly 90% of unions. While festivals like Diwali, Holi, and Durga Puja
India has reduced maternal mortality significantly (97 per 100,000 live births, 2023). However, access to sanitary pads (still unaffordable in many areas) and reproductive rights remain uneven. Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks, but social stigma persists. India has reduced maternal mortality significantly (97 per