NPR

Indian Couples Navigate A 'Shifting Sea' Of Love And Marriage

PBS Newshour reporter Elizabeth Flock spent nearly a decade following the lives of three couples in Mumbai. She chronicles their stories in The Heart Is a Shifting Sea: Love and Marriage in Mumbai.
A couple walks in the rain in Mumbai in 2007.

Veer and Maya eloped despite their parents' objections. Shahzad and Sabeena have a traditional arranged marriage that's been complicated by their inability to have children. Ashok and Parvati met via an online matchmaker.

The experiences of these three Indian couples are the focus of Elizabeth Flock's new book, The Heart Is a Shifting Sea: Love and Marriage in Mumbai. Flock, a reporter for PBS Newshour, spent nearly a decade following, and sometimes taking part in, their lives.

The book not only charts the winding course of three marriages in one of the world's largest and fastest growing metropolises, but also provides a detailed portrayal of a rapidly changing India. Flock's telling

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min readAmerican Government
With Federal Fraud Trial Looming, George Santos Drops Out Of New York House Race
The scandal-plagued former Republican congressman, ousted from his House seat last year, abandoned his long-shot independent bid for Congress. But he suggested his political career may not be over.
NPR4 min readAmerican Government
Why Haven't Kansas And Alabama — Among Other Holdouts — Expanded Access To Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
NPR2 min readInternational Relations
World Central Kitchen Workers Killed In Israeli Strikes Will Be Honored At Memorial
The aid workers were killed April 1 when a succession of Israeli armed drones ripped through vehicles in their convoy as they left one of World Central Kitchen's warehouses on a food delivery mission.

Related Books & Audiobooks