... love of both families for their offspring. Social status and monetary advantage, if they play a part, should be subordinate considerations. Assisted marriage rather than arranged marriage is the phrase Sikhs would prefer to describe the procedure of choosing a husband or wife. The decision to marry is itself a joint one, though custom also plays its part. Among some groups there may be a tradition of marriage at fourteen or fifteen. Child marriage in the traditional Indian sense has always been repudiated by Sikhs and a 14-year-old in India can be shouldering considerable adult responsibilities. The legal limit in India now is eighteen for women and twenty-one for men, and Sikhs accept the law of the country in which they live. The decision to seek marriage may be influenced by a number of considerations. Normally the older daughter should marry before her sisters. If the young person is undergoing ...

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