Secondshaadi.com- this website suddenly popped up on my sidebar
while reading a news article. The name quite spiked my curiosity and before I
knew it, it was one of those rare advertisements I actually clicked on. I had
never heard of secondshaadi.com or even known of its
existence. Apparently it is India’s No.1 remarriage website which I thought was
awesome in a way.
‘Second marriage’ and ‘divorce’ conventionally have been very dirty
words in India. Marriage traditionally was founded on comprise, tolerance and
so called societal rationality as opposed to love and desire. Higher divorce
rates in India today alarm me less and make me happy, especially for women in
India. No matter what critiques of the increased number of failed marriages in
India have to say, I believe that more women today are empowered enough to step
out of oppressive and male dominant marriages. As more and more Indians are
embracing capitalism, more and more women in urban and semi urban towns and
cities find themselves becoming economically independent and socially bolder.
I wonder whether oppression of women was purely the reason for low
divorce rates in India. For the first time ever, I recently saw the stats on
divorce rates in India and much to my shock they were supposedly the lowest in
the world i.e. 1.1 % also meaning just 1 marriage out of 100 actually ends.
We are currently a society of evolving values, coming of age yet
clinging to some of our values and traditions. Love marriages today are
relatively less scandalous and more acceptable compared to even a decade ago.
In my opinion financial stability and strength in numbers are the
two main reasons women of today can step up and out of a failed or loveless
marriage. As the number of divorce seekers in our society goes up for better or
for worse, women have more strength in numbers. The social stigma as a result
is reduced. As more and more Indian families educate women, even if to just
find a suitable boy that has a huge impact on their ability to find decent
paying jobs. Remarriage is happily seen less as a counter cultural issue today
in India by a lot of youngsters and women. Very recently the Union Cabinet of
India approved changes in the Marriage Act to help quicken the divorce process,
which is often very lengthy and time consuming. The Cabinet also okayed changes
to recognize a wife’s right to property that was acquired during marriage,
which is a step in a very positive direction.
I am happy for the women of today who get to be part of a society
where the social cost of divorce seems much less of a problem than it was ever
before.
