‘And I Fell In Love With My Husband’

When I hear these days, people argueing about love and arranged marriage. I always wonder is there a right answer to these questions. In my case, it was an arranged marriage.

I belonged to a middle-class family, above average in studies, average looks but very clear thoughts. Some people might take me as rude, but that's my nature, talk clearly and openly. Life was good. My dad was a bank manager and mom homemaker. Choti family of mom, dad, me, my sister, and brother. I am the beech ka Bandar. You know what they say, you learn so many things from your elder brother and sister and pass it on to your younger siblings.
 
My sister, very beautiful and so simple in nature, fell in love with a guy and married him. Up till now, everything is perfect but there is a twist in the story. Her courtship day was very stressful for.......ME. Yes, correct. My sister was in love. But there was so much lying and most of the time I was covering her tracks. One thing about me is I can't handle stress. When the right time comes, I wanted my mom and dad to take charge in this matter.

Oh, those were fun days, college, friends, weekends with family and relatives....carefree days. But then Suchitra’s auntie’s (mom's friend) daughter got engaged. Dad came home from the office and mom threw tiny chingaari and my name was registered in the matrimonial site.

I wanted to get married, it's not like that but the chai pohe ka program was not my cup of tea. The beauty of marriage in our country is that it's not only the bride and groom but both the families also get engaged with each other. It's like two families coming together. that is why it's the most important aspect while searching for a perfect bride or groom.

Arranged marriages are like taking calculated risks. First, there will be Kundli matching which is optional, then both the families along with the potential match meet. When my dad saw Aarav's profile on the matrimonial site, he fell in love with the guy before me. All the criterias were matching. I mean family reputation, education, financial stability, etc. My would-be father-in-law at that time was a professor in college and mother-in-law a homemaker, younger brother working with IT company. More or less like our family.

Our horoscopes were a good match and the day of chai pohe was decided. Fortunately for me, they called us over. My parents has taught us to touch the feet of elders and greet. Force of habit, I did the same thing there. They loved it because they also taught their children the same thing. My would-be in-laws talked to me for some time about my education, likes, and habits. Then both the parents gave us privacy. Minutes were passing still no one uttered even a single word. Then Aarav started the conversation. He made me feel so comfortable and relaxed that didn't even realize how much time passed. A thought came to my mind at that time even if we didn't get married but I still wanted to be friends with him. He was such a gentleman.

After the meeting, my dad asked me about Aarav. I think it was more like a formality because it was quite visible on my face that I liked the guy. In a few days, my father-in-law called to tell us their answer, but before that, he asked my dad whether your daughter liked our son or not. That's how we got married.

I look up to my dad for everything. Remember that advertisement- 'My daddy Strongest'. For me he is perfect. His decision-making, his personality, his nature, everything. I found all these things in my husband. I liked him in the first meeting. We got married and slowly I fell in love with my husband.

In love marraige it seems to be a cautious step having evaluated from all sides and spending some time before arriving at the marriage decision. In arranged marriage as I have said earlier, it appears to be a calculated risk. But there is risk in either case. It depends upon how the two individual work on their marriage.