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Marriage or live in? What could be the reasons for this seemingly sudden trend where the two are options?
Young people, these days, between the age groups 20-30 (‘marriageable’ ages) are considering live in a better option than marriage. Marriage or live in: that is the question!
Having discussed the issue with many of my own friends – highly opinionated young men and women, I came to understand that a major reason why in the debate of ‘Marriage or Live in’, a live in relationship might win. Most feel that being in a live in gives you an agency to make own decisions, and to be own person. No one wants to be tied down.
In a live in relationship, the hurdles that come along with marriage aren’t there. Many pro-live in people argue that marriages do have a tendency of taking away the element of individuality from a person, more so for a woman. Incurring a truckload of expenses, including dowry; adopting another name; being crushed under marital responsibilities, and many many restrictions from the husband and his family (cannot be generalised, but is mostly true for many women!) are some of the other ways how one – who is a free soul – might feel suffocated inside a marriage.
Many a time, you reach a level in your marriage where you start questioning the very foundation of the same. But in a society such as ours, even thinking about considering separation or divorce in a marital relationship is looked down upon, even if two people bound by marriage are at a stage where there is not trust, nor any intimacy between them. As such, the process of divorce is lengthy, and a clumsy one at the same time.
But a live in relationship seems like an easier way. As stated by a friend, “It’s all about the luxury of having as many options as possible in today’s modern world. If you never married a person, it’s easier to go your separate ways.” Getting separated from someone you never married puts a little less of an emotional burden on the self and the legal troubles that follow a divorce also get cancelled.
In an arranged marriage, all of a sudden you have to share your bed, your room and your privacy, which may lead to a lot of dilemma. This could be the case even if it is a love marriage because you don’t know how to realistically live with a person you are now supposed to call your spouse.
To counter such a scenario, a live in relationship may seem like a better, and a safer option, offering the best of both worlds. A live in relationship gives a choice to the participants to give the relationship a fair shot before actually doing something which (not strictly speaking) cannot be undone. Not that prevalent in India, but in the western world, as a Scandinavian friend of mine stated, many couples start a family without actually getting married. Hence, it can be said that a live in relationship gives the romance in the relationship a fair time to allow both the partners to settle in, and figure out the positives and the negatives of each other, so that if ever comes a time where you have to commit to such an institution as is a marriage, you get into it knowing all (or most of) what is necessary for the survival of the relationship.
Youth is an age where people are most goal-oriented and want to make sure that they achieve the aspirations that they have from themselves and their lives. Given a choice between marriage or live in, most of these individuals might go with a live-in.
The reason being that in this fast and constantly moving world, in order to be able to achieve something, you have to let go of some other things. Similar is the case here. In order to achieve one’s goals in life, while maintaining a romantic relationship with that someone special, one tends to prefer a live in relationship, which comes without the added responsibility of a spouse and having to start a family. With marriage, comes the responsibility of in-laws and maintaining healthy, social relationships with them. As a friend of mine humorously puts it, “There is no saas-bahu ki tu-tu, main-main, or hum dadi naani kab banenge type dialogues!”
During an interaction with some of my peers on this ‘Marriage or live in’ debate, some put forth a point stating that the youth of today realise that one needs to be more focused about the kind of environment they want to be a part of. Due to the rapid progress and easy access to social media, a sort of zombie lifestyle has developed. People don’t really have time for anyone but themselves. But humans need companions, nonetheless. So, people prefer searching for partners at one’s own workplace or in the form a live in relationship- a situation which is a preferable option for having an emotional support, without actually moving much away from the ‘normal’ mechanical routine.
Spending one’s life with someone else is a big decision, and seems more validated if it is a permanent one. Either marriage or live in, what’s important is to understand the compatibility and level of comfort you may share with that special someone, so that you can actually utter the words- with absolutely no doubts whatsoever- “Till death do us part!”
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Just your average pen-wielding person with a knack for thinking inside the box.
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