Titan's jewellery brand Tanishq, which has withdrawn an advertisement featuring a Hindu-Muslim couple and their families after vicious trolling, has received support on social media from users who have shared their experiences of being in a multicultural marriage. Actor-director Rasika Agashe, who is married to actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, shared her baby shower picture. Writer Mrinal Pande wrote, “My daughter married an Indian Muslim in USA, neither converted. Both mothers flew there when our first grandchild arrived. Together we cooked, cleaned, entertained family/friends. At night groaning Ya Allah and He Ram, giggled and slept on hard mattresses. ”TV personality Tehseen Poonawalla spoke about his own interfaith family in a tweet. Some other people also shared stories from their interfaith weddings.
A user named Griha Atul, said that Tanishq advertisement was based on realities of many like her, whose religious identity is respected and accepted by her Muslim in-laws."I'm married into a Muslim household which respects and accepts my religious identity. So the Tanishq advert wasn't a figment of any imagination. It's a reality of our times that's deliberately being negated by fascist forces," she tweeted. Another couple, who have been married for 44 years, shared their story as well. Years of struggle later, the couple say that they have now found peace and are a family of four. They have named their house in Goa "Hum" in Hindi, where H stands for Hindu and M for Muslim. The advertisement, which featured an interfaith baby shower was pulled off on Tuesday after it was targeted by a section on social media who felt it "promoted love jihad". The country's top advertising bodies have come out in support of the Tanishq advertisement, which, it said, breaks no ethical standards and isn't derogatory to any individual, organisation or religion. "Such baseless and irrelevant attack on creative expression is extremely concerning," The Advertising Club said in a statement.