The amount I think about marriage, you'd think I was of marriageable age - being flooded with proposals (for the traditional Indians) or having a boyfriend of many years (for the rest of the world). Perhaps by Manglorean standards I am on the threshold of the 'marriageable age,' however, by my own, I am far from it.
Yet often thoughts of marriage plague my mind, because unlike the 21st century norm, I plan on doing this only once!
I was thinking about how families take the external appearance of the bride-to-be into grave consideration. It's a pride factor, where they get to talk about how beautiful she is, looking at wedding pictures, an item to adorn the front mantle or a living room side table.
But we fail to realise that physical beauty does not surpass time. It is a momentary joy. Beauty is not what will support you through that difficult day. Beauty is not what will help you raise your kids together. Beauty is not what will reason out those meaningless fights.
Three of my friends were working on a marketing proposal this evening and they spoke about sustainability of their product. I thought about sustainability of a marriage. Here sustenance will be the end result of your spouse's values and strength of character. And that will be deserving enough to adorn any mantle and any living room side table. Because this is a rare beauty. It is real beauty.
