Pankaj Tripathi opens up about overcoming caste and social obstacles to marry wife Mridula: ‘Falling in love was considered audacious in Bihar’

Pankaj Tripathi recently opened up on overcoming significant caste and social barriers that impacted his marriage with wife Mridula.

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | November 12, 2024 12:35 PM IST

3 min read

Pankaj Tripathi opened up on his marriage with wife Mridula. (Photo: Mridula/Instagram)

Actor Pankaj Tripathi never misses an opportunity to shower praises on his wife, Mridula. Though the couple has been happily married for years and are parents to a daughter, their journey to tying the knot wasn’t easy. They had to overcome significant caste and social barriers. Reflecting on these challenges, Pankaj recently opened up about the social differences that impacted their marriage. Not only was theirs a love marriage, but the situation was further complicated by the fact that Pankaj’s sister was married to Mridula’s brother, creating a union within the same family—something seen as socially unacceptable in their community.

Reflecting on their relationship, Pankaj told The Lallantop, “During the 90s when it was a tough time, even falling in love in Bihar was audacious, but I did that. At that time, you don’t think about the result. The thing with love is that it starts with a wish to win someone over, but later it demands a lot of sacrifices, and we have to sacrifice happily. People think that love becomes complete with marriage, but that’s the beginning. You will find many faults in your partner after marriage, and you will have to sacrifice unconditionally. You come together for love, but you should also respect that you both are separate individuals. Don’t try impose yourself on one another.”

In a previous interaction on the Conversations with Atul YouTube channel, Mridula addressed why their relationship was so controversial. She explained, “It’s still not acceptable. We aren’t blood relatives, but in our culture, it is unacceptable for a woman to be married into a family of a lower stature, if another woman has already been married into a family of a higher stature. And because my sister-in-law had been married above her station into my family, I couldn’t be married into their family, which was considered of a lower stature.”

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Mridula also shared that Pankaj’s mother hasn’t accepted her as a daughter-in-law even after years of their marriage. “My mother-in-law hasn’t accepted me to this day, for the reasons I mentioned earlier. She’s still upset about this intermingling. But what can we do about it now?” Mridula said. Pankaj and Mridula married in 2004 and later moved to Mumbai, where they welcomed their daughter, Aashi Tripathi, in 2006.

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