Ahem! Ahem! This is India. You might be an expert at driving your car. But that doesn’t mean you can by pass the RTO officer to get your driving licence. You both might be the best pair on earth but that doesn’t mean you can rent a house and start a new life right away. There is a system and you have to abide by it. Aha, here enters the family!
Evolving from Dating to Exposure (Official Family Announcement)
In the best of your spirits, you’ve kept up your love saga going on, may be for a few months or a few years now. You’ve been together enough to a point that you know each other’s innermost secrets. You know that she likes white chocolates better than dark chocolates. You are aware that speaking about that tall guy can turn him off. You know where to hang out where no one can catch you kissing each other. It feels like you’ve conquered each other’s hearts for several lives to come. And one day while you are still riding the fanciful ride, there may arise a situation which demands that you open your secret affair to your families. Perhaps, one or both of you have reached the marriageable age or phase and your family begins to beg you everyday for your opinion or acceptance.
If you are a fortunate Indian, your family may welcome your partner with open arms. If you are not, congratulations, the part II of your affair begins – chasing the families! All along, you’ve safely evaded this moment, hoping there’s still time ahead. As a first step, it requires double the courage it took you to propose her. Not that elders and parents in India are terrors. It’s just that their mindsets are programmed with defined rules for marriage. They can happily host your girl friend if you would have introduced her as a friend. However, coming to know that she is the prospective bride of the family can have mixed effects in their mind. You might be subjected to background checks, oral examinations, financial tests and verbal abuses in some cases for a few months to years only to finally realize that your love life is already half dead before everyone decides to get you both married.
At the secret corner of your heart, you both want your families to accept your relationship without any disconcert. You wish the whole drama of winning the acceptance happened with respect atleast if not with love. In many a families, however, it may not be the case. On the name of religion or caste, elders tend to insult each other’s families sometimes. Unfortunately, it can take a toll on your relationship which otherwise should have sustained a healthy connection. It might take a few more generations before most part of the country can get open-minded about accepting love marriages whole-heartedly. Until then, the younger generation is to carry the responsibility of giving time and way for smooth turn over of events. Most importantly, to be wise and mature to handle their relationship without letting the family chaos to affect what they feel for each other!
On the brighter side, when your relationship is welcome with love from your family, it could be one of your best dream come true moments of life. In either case, there soon could be wedding bells ringing in the vicinity, taking all of your courtship years to the most-awaited climax.
Other posts in the A to Z series:
The Mr. & The Mrs. – The Evolution
A for Attraction – Why we fall in for Who we fall in?
B for Butterflies – The Stage is all Set!
C for Commitment – Stepping Across the First Line of Control