In 2013, Surat wing of the Samast Patidar Samaj SPS began to organise marriages of Odiya women with the Patels in Surat. On October 16, 42 women from Odisha’s Kurmi community will marry with Patidar men at a mass marriage ceremony in Surat. In the first year, seven Odiya women married Patels. This year, 42 women from different districts of Odisha came to Surat to choose their grooms. The Patidar community of Gujarat faces a contrary issue of fewer brides. The selection of the suitable Patel bachelors was done at a two-day swayamvar, organised by SPS in Katargam area of Surat, that ended Saturday. Such weddings were started two years ago as an experiment by the SPS, a social group of Leuva and Kadva Patels, to overcome the problem of bride shortage in the Patidar community because of the skewed sex ratio. Patidar men had already started choosing brides from tribals in south Gujarat. The girls adapt to the lifestyles of Gujarati Patel families easily. The couples’ age range is between 21-30 years.
