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Year 1970 - A young woman is asked by her married sister to visit her. When the woman reaches her sister's house, she is confronted by a marriage proposal. The sister wants the girl to marry her husband's close friend. The girl has no objections but she insists she wants to meet her prospective in-laws first. Not that they were strangers to her but before anything is finalized she wants to talk to them. At that time it was unheard of, yet the groom and his family agree.
The next weekend the girl travels to the town where the groom's elder brother lived. She has a meeting with the entire family and she states her conditions -
1. the marriage would be a registered marriage, since she didn't want her parents to spend any money on her wedding.
2. She owned two sarees that she wore on alternate days and she would only bring those with her. Apart from that she would not bring anything from her mother's house.
3. She was at that time pursuing her PhD and she wanted to complete that.
The groom's family agreed to all her demands. The day she got married, part of the family was in the registrar's office, some were scouting a rented apartment where the newly-weds could go to after the ceremony and the rest were in the market buying the essentials like stove and utensils and cots etc.
A year later I was born to this wonderful couple. Theirs was not a love marriage. Over the years there were a number of ups and downs, but we grew up in a family where mutual respect was always the predominant factor. It is an equal partnership.
Even today my mother wakes up at 8 and my father at 6. But before she wakes up - he's chopped the vegetables, kneaded the atta, done the laundry, watered the plants, everything in readiness for her to start her morning chores and then he wakes her up with her first cup of tea.
When a girl talks of having no alternatives, or some such things, I think back to what my mother must've faced from society for her bold step in those days. I know for a fact that not once did anyone in my father's family even remotely pass a remark on my mother.
Mom did not have support from her own family, but she had the confidence in herself that this is how she would start her life. Even with us (me and my sister) she's always told us that she does not care if we choose to stay single, but she does want to see us both financially independent and in careers of our choice.
The next weekend the girl travels to the town where the groom's elder brother lived. She has a meeting with the entire family and she states her conditions -
1. the marriage would be a registered marriage, since she didn't want her parents to spend any money on her wedding.
2. She owned two sarees that she wore on alternate days and she would only bring those with her. Apart from that she would not bring anything from her mother's house.
3. She was at that time pursuing her PhD and she wanted to complete that.
The groom's family agreed to all her demands. The day she got married, part of the family was in the registrar's office, some were scouting a rented apartment where the newly-weds could go to after the ceremony and the rest were in the market buying the essentials like stove and utensils and cots etc.
A year later I was born to this wonderful couple. Theirs was not a love marriage. Over the years there were a number of ups and downs, but we grew up in a family where mutual respect was always the predominant factor. It is an equal partnership.
Even today my mother wakes up at 8 and my father at 6. But before she wakes up - he's chopped the vegetables, kneaded the atta, done the laundry, watered the plants, everything in readiness for her to start her morning chores and then he wakes her up with her first cup of tea.
When a girl talks of having no alternatives, or some such things, I think back to what my mother must've faced from society for her bold step in those days. I know for a fact that not once did anyone in my father's family even remotely pass a remark on my mother.
Mom did not have support from her own family, but she had the confidence in herself that this is how she would start her life. Even with us (me and my sister) she's always told us that she does not care if we choose to stay single, but she does want to see us both financially independent and in careers of our choice.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Cricket
