* No bias or offense intended*
Today, My mom and I were watching an Indian movie where the actors fell “in love”, and were experiencing some problems with their family. We were happily watching the movie until my sister said one thing, “ Those parents are so mean, why don't they just leave them alone. Stupid arranged marriages”. When she said that one sentence, I knew things were going to go chaotic. My mom turned to her and gave her a 2 hour lecture about how love marriage is stupid and how arranged marriages are more traditional. Well, first of all, let me make my opinion a little clearer. What I say is that, in today's world in India, more people are getting love married, and even though I think they should have their right to marry whoever they want, I don’t think they should get carried away.
Look at this dictionary definition of ARRANGED MARRIAGES:
Arranged marriage starts from a fundamentally evil premise - that any parent or relative has the moral and legal right to force someone to marry against his or will, or to prevent him or her from marrying for love.
Oh come on, what century are you living in? Its totally not like that. In these days, when the guy/girl tells their parents that they are ready to get married and are willing to think about arranged marriages is when its called, “ arranged marriage”. The guy and the girl get to chose and are NOT forced to marry some random guy that they met 3 days ago.
I believe, that today, in India, an arranged marriage probably has a greater chance of being successful than a love marriage, and there are statistics to prove this. In India there is a lower divorce rate then there is in the USA. It might be because America is unrestricted and the women here are more free to do whatever they want but it wasn’t until I came to the US did I ever hear the word “divorce”, and when I heard of it, I was pretty surprised. Not only that, but divorce is also a Taboo in Indian culture. What every Indian women says is that no matter what happens, you can not leave your husband, or your family.
Unless it is one of those SUPER RARE cases, where the guy and the girl are super educated, and their families have a great reputation, are arranged marriages approved. (Education is the only loop hole any lovers in India can find. Unless both of them are amazingly educated, and their families have a good reputation is there any chance of their marriage being approved by their families).
In India, its all about reputation. That is one of the main reasons why Indian families are so strict. They care about their reputation. That’s why love marriages are such a taboo in India, its because of the gossips that spread from it. Not only does it spread gossip, but it also affects the guy/girl's chance of finding a good person to be arranged with. Arranged marriages have become such a big part of Indian lives that there are even websites that are based on it too. The websites are intended to help you find your “groom” or “bride” depending on what your preferences are. I am not saying that I am against arranged marriages, but I am not agreeing with it either. So I usually let the person decide on what their opinion on arrange marriages are, and that is the main reason why I did this blog. It is to clear up the confusion that many people have on this controversial subject of "arranged marriage".
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