While we’re still not out of the woods from Pakistani Supreme Court’s activism, here is an insidious bombshell from Indian Supreme court. All those men and women, who thought they could live together as long as they get along and get separated when it does not work without the acrimony of divorce, were really married couple. Here is a momentous turn that will create upheavals in Indian society from bottom to top.

A man and a woman will simply go and live together without having to explain, feast, justify to all neighbourhood, families… No bridegroom hunt, no caste, no horoscope, no dowry, no marriage hall, no number of dishes to be served, no Baraat, no mulla/ pundit. Families know it or not, like it or not, a discrete deal between man and woman. A disaster for marriage industry, for parents of boys- especially of doctors, engineers and other such easy mints. What will happen to chonchales of chachas during marriage ceremony? Many colorful traditions are doomed to die.

Similarly what will happen to courts, lawyers, chattering chachis if the couple simply breaks up and do not even need a decent divorce.

What happened to our social values? Marriages, even if they were sometimes of children, were always great occasions for ministers to meet people. How our great social reformers
like Lakshmi Mittal can show to the world that India has arrived by organizing 200 million dollars extravaganza of their children’s marriages. Aping the western culture, like Bill Gates did of throwing several tens of billions of dollars for eradicating HIV or spending evenings with prostitutes of Bombay, is a wasteful act as it is not a charity at a temple or zakat to ensure next worldly life. When you’re conscious of our rich cultural heritage, your prestige in the society and wish to show your children that you love them, you organize the most expansive marriage for them. Beside this is a natural deterrent for marriages going sour. They may fight, live separately, threaten their spouse’ with divorce and consequently deprive him of livelihood or seeing children but will never divorce. Who can afford such expansive marriages twice and also parents wrath to boot.

Parents choose a spouse taking into consideration other parameters such as beauty, earnings, family connections, etc., things important in our cultural heritage. For a successful marriage, with whom-so-ever parents have arranged, spouses need to fall in love or at each other instantly. It is only possible if they are first sufficiently sex starved. This is why sex before marriage is haram. Afterwards, they have all their time to learn about the weaknesses of the other and adjust to a threat-balance.

While love-ins are essentially sexual exploitation. After having enjoyed sex shamelessly, even before living-in, they defy social values by living together only to separate after a few years. There is no deterrent like a costly divorce. Can we think of girls and boys of different castes and even religions, working together and then start living together. If they don’t get along, they go and live with someone else until they find someone and learn about life to adjust to each other. Even sex will be no more a criteria as it won’t be so difficult to get …, like among animals. All our social values as virginity at marriage, obedience to in-laws etc will not be respected.

Supreme court has opened to door to all vice. I need to tell my 3 daughters, now 30 to 35 years old, to get married quickly. They have been living with their boy friends since years and one has even a child. Only problem, and even my mother now 83 years old recognizes, is that we could have never found such splendid and courteous boys by ourselves. Also my daughters might fire back that their parents should explain why after 35 years and 3 daughters later, we’re still only living in and have never cared to get married.