After seeing so many friends, colleagues, acquaintances, cousins step into the holy matrimony I can say with some confidence... being married in India is tough. Very tough. And I say this because I am single. At 26, my wedding is priority for my parents for quite some time now. Having said that, it got me thinking.. Being married actually has quite a few advantages over being single. Its like a license to get away with a lot of things.
1. You can 'indulge' if your significant other (s/o) is comfortable with it.
No longer do you need to live upto the 1970s standard of living cuz you and s/o are the decision maker of your house. Wearing shorts, drinking, smoking, partying, dining, vacationing in the Himalayas, the list goes on!
No longer do you need to live upto the 1970s standard of living cuz you and s/o are the decision maker of your house. Wearing shorts, drinking, smoking, partying, dining, vacationing in the Himalayas, the list goes on!
2. Telling recent acquaintances that you are married saves so many unwanted passes.
3. Women can travel to countries like Dubai or Saudi Arabia without hassles. Try that when you have a boyfriend or when you are by yourself.
4. You have a permanent companion to get bored at other weddings or to take fabulous cross country trips (or they can at least be a backup option)
5. You don't have to listen to aunties at family functions talking about some bhua's masi's grand daughter's cousin who would be a good match for you! (They may start pestering you for having kids, but at least thats in your control.)
6. You can crack non veg jokes (thats the indianised version for dirty jokes) without raising eyebrows.
7. You are no longer treated like a child (even if you are married at 22!) Your financial decisions, or major life decisions are relatively less influenced by the parents.
8. When traveling alone, less number of random men check you out if you are visibly married (mangalsutra, sindoor, ring on the ring finger, etc)
Otherwise, anyone just seems to believe that they acquired rights to scan you from top to bottom.
Otherwise, anyone just seems to believe that they acquired rights to scan you from top to bottom.
And anyone you meet can ask you, "Why are you not married yet?" or a random cop / TTE can ask "Why are you traveling without your husband?"
9. You don't have to answer the question: Why aren't you married yet? Why didn't you find someone in school / college / work / locally / on the street / random cousin's wedding / etc. Its as if our life's mission is to just find that one person and get married ASAP.
10. You have some company to do everyday things: Going to the movies (some movie ticket booking apps actually double check if you ever try to book a single ticket!), clubbing (Couple entry is free! Why?! What wrong did the singles do!), dining (table for 2 gets you the corner side romantic one.. table for one gets you a stare!), someone to indulge you when you have a craving, someone's opinion when you are shopping...
I'm sure this list will have more additions over time.. Feel free to add some in the comments!
Meanwhile... Singles.. I am still on your side and its definitely a good life.. More on that.. coming up soon! :)
11. You always have a shoulder to cry on and someone to come home to after a long, hard day at work.
ReplyDelete12. You don't have to cook AND do the dishes. If I cook, he does the dishes and if he cooks, he does the dishes too! If I would have known this before, I would've gotten married much earlier.
13. You get a better reason to wake up and make the most our of every single day.
ReplyDeleteMore than this, I would say.. It's less about just getting married, and more about finding some1 who can really be your 'better half', who can make u complete and wish that the moment stays forever.. Either time just stops or clock go back to your wedding day :)
14. U have a friend u never go out of touch with.. someone who knows all ups and downs u going thru and shares them as if it were their own.. (there is an underlying assumption of having found the right partner, but I guess that is given for all points..)
ReplyDelete