Is ‘arranged marriage’ worth it?

STRAP:   In free-choice marriage decisions, one of the hardest challenges is finding a good set of options to choose from millions of choices.

TANUSHREE PODDAR: NP NEWS 24 ONLINE-  Arranged marriage in India is one of the oldest culture which has always been debateable. Where the idea of arranged marriage is perceived differently in countries especially in the west.

People have major misunderstanding about arranged marriages and in fact have a fairly negative attitude regarding arranged marriages. The best way to understand the reasoning behind such cultures is to put aside your own beliefs, opinions, and preconceived ideas in order to see more clearly before dismissing it as wrong.

Parents will sort through the biodata of candidates. They will spend hours online looking through profiles, or through physical files and photographs. Highly sought-after young people can get mounds and mounds of this kind of material from potential suitors.

Marriage in India is not perceived as a relationship between two people but as a relationship between families and especially between the girl and her husband’s family. What works in the whole system of arranged marriage is the idea of trusting our parent’s choice and the confidence that parents not only love their daughter and have her best interest at heart, but that they also have more wisdom and can make a better decision for her in the area of marriage.

As one Indian parent puts it, “We aren’t looking for a wife for our son, but a daughter-in-law for our family.” That doesn’t mean they will force their son/daughter to marry someone he/she is incompatible with, but they recognize that the marriage will affect everyone. finding a suitable marriage partner is a family decision. In the West, it is an individual decision.

While the idea of westerners is not wrong to give it a try to a live-in relationship or long courtship before they plan to settle down to know whether they are compatible with their partners generally as well as sexually which is surprising for Indians.

Westerners do not believe in marrying someone they do not love but interestingly many of the youth in India prefer arranged marriages as they believe this will give them the time and ability to enjoy their youth without the constant worry and struggle of relationships that comes about in western culture.

So, what all do you need to know about your well-matched partner is their community and family history, horoscope and astrological sign, food habits (veg/non-veg), drinker/smoker, languages spoken, employment history and overall financial position, educational background and social status.