CANADA, May 25, 2015 (Huffington Post): Whenever I tell my friends that I’ve thought about getting married to a guy that my parents will pick for me, I always get the same response. “Wait a minute, an arranged marriage!?” “But why? Aren’t you worried!?” Like any other woman, when I was younger I was adamant about being in a love marriage — falling in love and getting married with or without my parents’ approval was the dream, just like in the movies. What I did not understand was how much my parents truly worried about my future. They were concerned that maybe in my immaturity I would fall in love with the wrong guy, make bad decisions, and do something stupid that I would regret for the rest of my life.
In the South Asian community, marriage is a big deal. It is a sacred pact between man, woman and God that is honoured for a lifetime. Divorce is rare. Once you’re in it, you’re in it for life. In a Hindu marriage, a crucial part of the pact is the parents. A marriage is not just the union of a man and a woman — it is the union of two families. The parents of the couple are just as important as the couple themselves. Upon realizing this, I understood why my parents would be concerned if I entered into a love marriage where I chose the man I would marry. They were worried that our families would not be compatible. In an arranged marriage, they would be certain that the match would be good for all parties involved.
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