Miranda Kennedy, an American journalist who spent five years in India, published her book “Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India” recently in the US. The book has been discussed widely among the elite class and common men alike.
As part memoir and part reporting, the book portrays the lives of modern Indian women. According to her India is a complex and traditional place.
Miranda reported for National Public Radio (NPR) and PRI Marketplace Radio.
The changing trend in the lives and love of Indian Women has been chronicled in the book, according to the reviewers.
She says the educated professional Indian Woman is forced to blend modern and traditional values in her life.
‘My friend Geetha is a great example of that. She is one of the main characters of the novel.’
Miranda has a crystal vision on independent women. 
‘An independent woman takes into account the wishes and expectations of her family, her partner and society…’
She has experienced the importance of having some protective circle of family and loved ones in India.
‘I also softened my attitude on arranged marriages.’-
But if you ask her on the different outlooks of Indian and western women, she would say, ‘I wouldn’t say there are essential differences…’
Excerpt from an exclusive email interview:
The lives of Indian women
As an American, I was surprised at how many modern women still had arranged marriages, and how normal the dowry system is. And yet the thing that struck me most was how similar Indian womens’ lives are to my own. My friends struggled with the same things I struggled with—basically, how to be an independent woman and also have a partnership and a family.
Concept on independent woman
I’d define independent as someone who makes the majority of her own decisions. She takes into account the wishes and expectations of her family, her partner, and society, but comes to her own conclusions. 
Modern outlook and traditional values
The educated, professional Indian woman is forced to blend modern and traditional values in her life—especially when it comes to marriage. My friend Geeta is a great example of that. She’s one of the main characters of the book, wanted to find a husband who was sensitive to her and who didn’t force her to trade in her jeans for saris after marriage. She wanted to find a guy who allowed her to keep working after marriage. And yet she also wanted to have an arranged marriage, because that was what her parents expected, and she had more faith in that system than a love match. She wouldn’t have wanted to marry a non-Hindu or non-Brahmin guy, because those were important values to her family when it came to marriage. And when she got married, she did give up her job—even though her husband didn’t tell her she had to, it was just the expected thing to do.
Change in attitude
My time in India changed my attitudes to many things, especially family, community, and marriage.
Before I moved to Delhi, I hadnt ever had much of a community because we moved around a lot when I was young, and I had long lived far apart from my parents and sisters. I was accustomed to being totally independent and on my own. In fact, I left my boyfriend behind in New York to move to India. But while there, I came to find it touching to see how important it is in India, to have some protective circle of family and loved ones around you. At first it seemed oppressive, but then I realized how wonderful that kind of close family can be too.
I also softened my attitudes to arranged marriage—at first I thought of it as nothing more than a parentally-sanctioned meat market, but after a few years in India, watching my friends go through the process, I started to see some benefits from asking practical questions instead of leaping into a relationship out of a feeling of love. Mature relationships do have to grow out of some shared values and expectations from life.
The vital difference
I wouldn’t say there are essential differences between Indian and western women; what is different are the societal expectations. Even in fast-modernizing India, many women are expected to act primarily for their families, and are considered selfish if they focus on their careers and wait too long to have children. In the west, there is less of an expectation for women to have multiple children and to stay home with them; the weight of tradition has lifted. Women often have multiple premarital relationships, marry and have children late, or do not marry at all, and also have fewer children.
Indian women and western style
I do not think that Indian women are simply following blindly in the footsteps of western women. There are many ways in which globalization has affected the lives of Indian women, of course—from moms microwaving meals after a long day at work, to women choosing their own love matches and wearing western clothes. But those changes are matched by the strong undercurrent of Indian culture that still defines even the most modern woman. For instance, my friend Parvati, who I also write about in the book, seemed very westernized in some ways. She had a boyfriend she did not intend to marry; she did not plan to have children; she smoke and drink whiskey out in the open with her friends. And yet—she refused to wear western clothes or to eat fast food or even pasta. She made home-cooked meals every night for her and her boyfriend, and tried to keep the fact that she had a boyfriend secret from her mother, because she knew she would not approve. So even for Parvati, who rebelled against Indian tradition in many ways, the pull of Indian culture was strong.
Influenced Indian women
I have long been impressed with India’s tradition of feminism and beautiful writing. I admire like Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Kiran Desai, all of whom write about the various experiences of women in Indian or Indian-American society.
