Why Marry when you want Independence?

Check out this news below. I wonder, why do these people who do not want ‘any’ compromise in marriage, marry in the first place! Is it because of the entirely wrong and romanticised picture of marriage shown on the Silver-Screen and the Idiot-Box? Has the time come for the entertainment media to become a little more responsible towards what they showcase on the screen, and what’s the ground reality of the country and Indian Society today?

At 18, girls are divorced & looking for new partners

The city is witnessing a new crop of married women who not only believe in economic independence but have also rendered the words ‘compromise in marriage’ redundant. The new breed of upcoming young and dynamic individuals now no more believe in marital compromise the way our past generations used to do.

Several young couples rush into marriage but get divorced soon, some at ages as young as 18. The marriage bureau, Vina Mulya Amulya Sewa, has registered cases where around 35% young females who are looking for a life partner, highlighting a trend of young women from across the country who are living with the ‘divorced’ tag at ages below 23.

India, known for being conservative with strong family values, is on the throes of a divorce spiral, with the number of cases increasing exponentially over the last decade.Natubhai Patel, founder, VMAS is of the opinion that youngsters are very impulsive when it comes to marriage and tend to take decisions without contemplating much about it.

“Youngsters, especially girls are many times ill-prepared for the institution of marriage. They have unrealistic, romanticised notions of marriage which soon come crashing down and lead to divorce,” says Patel.

Patel cites several instances wherein the females are as young as 18 and divorced whom he intends to help in their search for a soulmate. Arpita Jain (name changed), 18, eloped with her next door neighbour and tied the knot, only to return a few days later as the boy’s family refused to accept her.

Lack of love and affection from her own family, she states, is what led her to look for love somewhere else. Meenakshi Acharya (name changed), 19, also eloped with her lover and got married in court. Acharya knocked at her parents’ doors the next day itself but her family disowned her for going against their wishes.

The boy never came back to take her and she was left in a state of limbo, losing out on everythingpresently residing at a friend’s house. “She is very young. Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is to learn from their mistakes. I have told her to stop worrying as I will perform her kanyadaan when she gets married,” says Patel.

Misbah Nayeem Quadri / DNA