Gold is unaffordable so South Asian brides turn to one gram substitutes

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – Uzma Bashir sleeps most nights with her phone beside her pillow. She often wakes, not to check her messages, but she is getting married in the summer and is monitoring the price of gold.

“In [Indian-administered] Kashmir, gold is not just an ornament, it is dignity. It determines how you will be treated in your in-laws’ home,” said the 29-...