The life which humans are blessed with undergoes a different phase at every cycle of life. Marriage and the customs involved in it is one among the phase.
Marriage as an institution, is an official way of accepting a second party in life which was until then revolved around personal interests. Marriage is not just a union of two individuals but an entire family. In a such a scenario, in India a women undergo a surprising event of leaving her parental home and shifting to her in laws’ place. It is an Indian culture rooted due to the patriarchal setting of society. It is the same state in states of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
While, in a western culture as kids leave their parental home when turning adult, gives no chance to choose between husband’s or wife’s home. But it will be their own personal space, whereas the practice of shifting into the in-laws space has its own impacts. Women in specific, the Individual who then was a daughter of one house is expected to carry forward the responsibility of an unknown household, the very next day of entering the in-laws’ house. In this regard, there exists no barrier on what the age of a girl is, either 24 or 18, the expectation and the repercussion on the failure remains same.
In a patriarchal family when a women wishes to have a house with her husband away from a joint family structure, she is titled as the one who ruins the family. In such a case, is every man who takes a girl away from her own house post marriage, a threat in a relationship?
Going in deep to the logical understanding on the culture, is it not an indirect pressure on a woman to leave her family for someone else, until and unless it is by her own choice? I believe, woman should be given a say in this matter.
Secondly, is woman even responsible to look after the parents who are not her’s? Is it not her actual duty to look after her own parents rather putting the responsibility on some one else’s child?
Family is the basic and major part of every individual’s life. Let not any relation be taken away from anyone in the name of a culture. Let relationship be continued by respecting each other’s interests and choices in an optimistic way.