I used to think arranged marriage was a horrible idea!
Until one day, whilst I was sitting in a coffee shop in Colaba, Mumbai, I overheard a conversation between an American and an Indian at the table adjacent to me. They were having a debate, and dumbfounded, the foreigner asked, "how can you let your parents choose who you should marry?"
His friend responded: "In the west, a girl goes bar hopping and church hopping; kissing every frog until she finds prince charming. BUT, in India, your parents find prince charming for you!"
How can you argue with that!
The fact is, in India the divorce rate is 1% compared to American 50%. Maybe that's not reflective of a perfect system, and sure there are exceptions to statistics, but marriage certainly seems to be working better here than most places in the world!
To those who are now wondering: No, me and my wife did not have an arranged marriage, but our parents from both sides met and vetted their prospective son/daughter in law to be, and gave their blessings. After we declared our love for each other, our parents initiated arrangements for a wedding. We joke that it was a sort of arranged "love-marriage".
My parents have been married 31 years today and I for one am so grateful for their example and direction. Your parents know better than you! If you're having a hard time finding a spouse, let them find prince/princess charming for you!
