Young people would think in this way. But it is not true.
Marriage is about relations between the two families as well. In
other parts of the world, the entire clan, tribe, village are also
involved.
Marriage only brings a woman closer to man, and they become friends
in a special sense, never to be parted either in this life or in
the lives to come.” [1]
Some people are fortunate enough to have found their soul-mates
while others have their soul-mates selected for them. In
South Asia and the Middle East, arranged marriages are preferred
over love marriages, which is the predominant system in the
West. In today’s society, arranged marriages are looked down
upon because, as many argue, not having the right to choose one’s
partner is cruel. People of the West reason that only the
person who is to marry can decide whom s/he wishes to spend the
rest of his/her life with, which leads to a successful
marriage. On the other hand, people of South Asia and the
Middle East claim that the elders of the family have the final say
over the marriage for they have seen the world and know that a
successful marriage is not just a uniting of two people, but of two
families.
What is a
marriage? According to the Encarta dictionary a marriage
is,
....a legally recognized
relationship, established by
a civil or religious ceremony, between two people who
intend
to live together as sexual and domestic
partners.” [2]
Encarta’s definition of a marriage does not mention anything to do
with how the partners found one another and who decided they should
marry. According to the definition, Western marriages are
just as legal and proper as South Asian and Middle Eastern
marriages are, for both types of marriages have either been
recognized through a religious or civil service.
What is an arranged marriage? It is usually perceived as a
marriage that one is being forced into but, in all truth, it is
not. It is a merging of not only two people, but of two
families through the process of agreement. Now, in today’s
modern world, there are two types of arranged marriages:
arranged-love marriages and pure-arranged marriages.[3] An arranged-love marriage is
where the couple loves one another and wishes to marry, receiving
the permission and advice of their respective parents and family
elders. Here, caste and dowry are not as important as status,
both economic and social, and family reputation.
Sunita and Chila, two of the three
protagonists of Life
Isn’t All Haha Heehee,
had arranged-love marriages with their boyfriends, Akash and
Deepak. Chila and Deepak had courted for quite some time
before marriage, even though their parents were not aware of their
relationship, and decided to marry. They were both Indian
Hindus which is why their parents agreed to the marriage.
Sunita and Akash met at law school and started dating with their
parents’ knowledge.
Sunita and Akash were both Punjabi
Hindus which is why their parents did not disapprove of the
relationship...
http://www.aller-stead.com/martin/pages/FirstComesMarriage.htm
Why are we talking about aranged marriage. Either way, I still
stand by my point that marriage is just between two people. The
most basic family nucleus consists of just parents and kids, to
simplify.
