Crisis @ Institution of Marriage

Epilogue

Its been about a month and a half, since my last blog update . I had almost given up the idea of blogging for many reasons, and had began cursing Ranjan (my friend who inspired me to take up blogging). Since my valentine Blog, I had several ideas(My trip to the Taj, India's Dismal show in the Caribbean, Formula 1 without Schumacher) which fortunately/unfortunately couldn't be penned down. I was probably waiting for some kind of wake-up call, but all it took was a quarter dozen people (yeah if your maths is good, 3 is the number) forcing me to re-think. I had to re-think on my style of writing cause it was more humorous (at-least to me), so for the fear of being type-casted as an not so serious writer. So here i come up with a very serious and sober blog.
People who have been close to me must have burst out in laughter, the moment i said marriage, they would associate me with all the fake profiles on BharatMatrimony, ShaadiTimes & Shaadipoint. (I repeat i am not here to ridicule marriage) Infact i myself was not convinced that i should make an attempt, but if K-Jo can make KANK, then anybody on this planet can talk anything !! Fun apart this has been on my mind for some time now (No, No Not marriage, but a post on marriage), if you have been a regular reader of my blogs (i know you wouldn't make the same mistake twice) you would have noticed i had promised to come up with this sometime back. Yeah as if i keep up all my promises.

Its been about a year since i have passed out of SCIT, and our yahoogroups have been flooded with Marriage Invitations, about a dozen have changed their status to 'married' on orkut and another dozen to 'committed' since there is no status called 'genuinely committed'. I still have NO STATUS, just to keep people interested/Guessing and confused. Amidst of all this, One of my close friends from graduation who also happened to be the class topper, got married when he was 23 and is has now turned a proud papa at 24 (April, 2007).

The right age for marriage has up quite a debatable issue today. I have know people who have been struggling to get married in their early 30's and also people who have been forced to get married in their early twenties, people who surrendered tamely, people who turned rebellious, people who preferred their parents happiness over their own, people who felt they are the architects of their own future. With due respects to all kind of people, the point here is NOT, how you get married ? or whom you get married to ? its "When to get married ??"

Graduation at the age of 21, a Masters degree at 24, Then begins the problem "I am too young for marriage", "I need more time to settle down", "I am not matured", "Need to stabilize my professional Career", "Need to earn more money" blah blah blah..... Most guys FAIL to realize when their hairs have turned gray or for that matter have gone bald, not until the kid next door starts calling you an Uncle.. (you would struggle to realize when u transformed from a Cool Dude to an Uncle). Every Marriage ceremony I attend i hear a bunch of youngsters(sometimes i am one of them) gossiping, "its high time he got married", "look at his tummy", but it is the same bunch of youngsters who go on to make the same mistake.

For people who are tooo serious about their careers, it is high time they realize that "Settling down in your career" happens at 60 NOT 30. The sooner you get married the more responsible you become, the quicker you learn to balance your professional and personal life. Career cannot wait, neither can Marriage !! Marriage is luxury which we all can afford - don't wait for it become a necessity/formality. Especially if you are a die hard romantic then let me tell you, romance comes to a screeching halt at 30-32.

There are no age constraints for Love, but Romance has a different meaning at 26 and at 32.

Easier said than one. Life is no less than a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs. We don't live in an ideal world with ideal people. Circumstances are life's biggest obstacles. Not everyone has the luxury of choosing when and whom to get married. Having talked about the right age for marriage. Not marrying at the right age is not the end of everything. I know intellectual people who gave up a career and got married early in life, who don't regret their decision.

Its all about setting your priorities right career, marriage or parents !!! There is nothing called a right or perfect decision. Its always your decision !!

On the personal front, having written so much about marriage, i will have to confess that the idea of marriage even though 4 years away, sounds equally funny to me. So I keep convincing myself to get ready for marriage, and keep telling my friends "I am getting married next year". so that they constantly keep reminding, keep pushing me, and i have been quite successful with it.

"My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher." - Socrates.


PS: The views expressed in this article are based on most sections of people in the southern part of India, where people get married pretty late compared to the Northen counterparts. The reason behind this. i can actually come up with a book on that.