When are you getting married? This question is one of the most commonly asked questions immediately after you land up in a job. Strangely, I have never been asked this question. But all my friends confronted this question. I must add the phrase "back in the days" as it has been decades since they encountered this question. Whenever I talk to young people these days, which is not often enough, I realize this question is still a prevalent one. If you are wondering why I have escaped the bullet, then I must admit it is a mystery for me too. After giving it a considerable thought on this matter, I have concluded that no one wanted me to crumble under a load of responsibilities and hence they spared me the trouble of answering such questions.
Let's back to where we started. You may dodge the question for a while. Eventually, you will get married. But the questions do not stop there. Instead, there is a new one. When are you planning to have kids? It may be your mother or your grandmother. They always got their eyes fixed on preserving the gene pool. The question makes you uncomfortable. A new person in your life is a significant change. When the dust has not settled, here there is another significant change to deal with. With families becoming smaller in size with support networks of siblings scattered all over the world, the changes are, and there is no one to guide through these changes.
A friend of mine narrates his experience. He was born in the UK but of Indian origin. After his wedding, he took his wife to Punjab, the land where his parents are from. There were festivities and visits planned to the homes of extended family. During one of these visits, he met a grand-aunt. The grand-aunt asked him. "When are you planning to make me a great grand-aunt?" Let us take a pause here and examine what usually happens in such a scenario. The guy blushes, then look around nervously before mumbling an answer. What happened on that day had nothing to do with the word "usual." My friend too his grand-aunt's hand and replied. "I want to. But please show me how to." The grand-aunt didn't talk to him for the rest of his stay there. She had a word to describe him. Shameless.
Photo Courtesy: jetjetleung
Good one.
ReplyDelete