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Gokul Sreedhar’s Facebook post celebrating his mother’s second marriage is a slap to society’s taboo against older women looking for love.
India is a country where society is not very accepting of a woman remarrying. We often see cases where women are forced to stay in abusive marriages because “what will people say”. On top of this, society makes it miserable for the ones who dare to come out of an unhappy marriage.
“Iska chatira acha nahi hoga, pati ko khush nahi rakhti hogi to pati marega hi na” (Her character is not decent, it’s logical for a husband to beat up his wife if she can’t make him happy). Comments like these are pretty commonly flung at women who leave their husbands primarily because of domestic abuse.
In a society full of such comments Gokul Sreedhar’s Facebook post celebrating his mother’s remarriage is a huge step towards acceptance.
Gokul Sreedhar, a young man from Kerala, posted recently on Facebook (in Malayalam) celebrating his mother’s remarriage. He wrote that he had been debating whether to write about it or not, especially because remarriage is still a taboo in this country.
He wrote of how his mother had faced a lot of domestic abuse in her first marriage. How she had to still stay in it because of societal pressures and for the sake of her child. Sreedhar also mentioned that the day his mother decided to move out of the abusive marriage was the day he decided that he will help her get remarried.
In his post, he urged readers not to look with at his mother remarrying with hatred or contempt because his mother is “too old to get married”. He also mentioned that even if they do, he couldn’t care less.
In our society marriage is a social compulsion, but remarriage is taboo! Strange, right? Gopal Sreedhar with his post has given a very inspiring and empowering message. Something that our flawed society needs to understand. Romance and marriage for older people are not quite what society approves of. Our society needs to learn that there is nothing wrong with a woman remarrying for her happiness.
Giving women the freedom to choose their life partner irrespective of their age is what we need to do as a society. There is nothing wrong with looking for a new beginning and a fresh start to a relationship.
After all if two people can find companionship, satisfaction and have fun in old age, why shouldn’t they marry? And yes, no one should have a problem with that.
Image credits Gokul Sreedhar
I read, I write, I dream and search for the silver lining in my life. Being a student of mass communication with literature and political science I love writing about things that bother me. Follow read more...
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Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
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