“If you don’t get married now, chances are that you will never.” These were the words young, single women in India dreaded to hear which was often, all through their single lives.
But, today the tables have turned round dramatically and the change is hopefully for the better.
We have reached a stage today where unmarried women in their late twenties are not looked down upon or talked about in hushed tones.
Some women decide to marry late and some prefer to remain single as they don’t feel they need the tag of ‘marriage’ anymore to feel ‘complete’.
The increasing number of unmarried women may be attributed to increasing opportunities for women be it in education or employment as well as having an income of their own.
Sonal Singh (30), who is a manager at a leading software company in Bangalore tells us,” Women have started to contribute significantly to the running of a household.
Daughters are treated equal to ‘sons’ today and hence, we are expected to take over serious positions even at our workplaces.
Since women are already financially independent, we look for ‘good’ reasons to settle down.
Financial dependence on men is no longer the criteria. I don’t want to get married just because I want my husband to pay my house rent. I look for things like compatibility and understanding in the man I would like marry and I don’t mind waiting for the right one.” Rohit Manghnani, business head of matrimonial website Jeevansathi.com, said, “Women have become career-oriented in urban India.
This has coincided with the services sector booming in India.
Larger job opportunities have meant that women are more financially independent now and therefore, under less parental pressure to marry and settle down.” A study by Jeevansathi.
com shows that there is an upward trend in the age of girls gearing up to take their wedding vows.
It shows that the mean age of marriage for women in metros has moved up to 28 years in 2011 as compared to 26 years in 2008.
In non-metros, the age has moved up to 27 years as compared to 26 years in 2008. However, when they look at the demographics state-wise, then there were startling disparities.
Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar still showed 26 years as the mean age of marriage for girls.
Among the metros, Delhi and Chennai showed that the mean age of marriage in their city is 27, while Mumbai and Bangalore show 28.
Upasana Rai, a media professional in the city says, “Characters like Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother and Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City (American television drama series) are something many young woman today can identify with.
They are beautiful, single and successful and make it clear that they don’t want kids or marriage, without portraying themselves as feminists.
Even Indian serials like Kuch Toh Log Kahenge are coming of age today.” She adds, “I personally would want to marry at some point of time, but not now.
I am just 25 years and I won’t marry just because my relatives or the society wants or expects me to.
I need to gain a firm foothold in my career just like the guys do.” With the dynamics of our society changing faster than ever before, women, not to be left behind, are embracing bachelorhood with a great penchant