Blog 5 - My Marriage Was Arranged

Link to article - My Marriage Was Arranged  

In the article "My Marriage Was Arranged" published in Good Housekeeping, the author Jyothi Sampat, discussed the process of arranged marriages in India. Sampat starts off with her time during high school how she had never gone on a date. After finishing school in Quebec, she came back to India and was ready for her parents to arrange her marriage. There are many criteria that a man or woman seeks when their parents are looking for someone to marry their child. Some examples of certain criteria that a person should meet are: looks, education, jobs, family background and weight or height. In Sampat's case, her criteria were: he would be tall, not eat meat, does not drink alcohol or smoke. Sampat mentioned that after a couple of weeks after her ad was posted, they received their first response. She began talking to this stranger, and after the fourth phone call, Sampat decided that she wanted to marry him. Most couples don't meet at all until their wedding day, or a couple days before their wedding. It wasn't until after Sampat had married her husband, Praveen Sampat, where they began to get to know each other and learned each other’s interests. After their marriage, they moved to the United States and settled down in Phoenix, Arizona. Although Jyothi Sampat and Praveen Sampat's marriage was arranged, Jyothi still had a hard time explaining to people how she met her husband. People would judge and say things such as, "Wow" or "I didn't know such things still existed." Even though their marriage was arranged, Jyothi was happy and believed in what her mother had told her when she was younger, "love comes after marriage." Because that is when you get to know someone and have all of the fun. 

In my opinion, I would never allow to have an arranged marriage for myself. I don't think I will be able to marry someone who I do not know, even though my parents have picked out the "perfect" man for me to marry. I believe that love comes from the heart, not by choice. I understand that arranged marriages are still happening until this day in different countries, but I'm very glad that I grew up with a choice of who I can date and who I can marry. People who have arranged marriages enjoy the time of getting to know their spouse after marriage, but I would prefer to get to know someone before marrying them. Because you may never know, sometimes, that person may not turn out to be whom they claim to be. I don't have any bad intentions on arranged marriages, but it is something that I would have to refuse to do, even if my parents told me so. I would be a lot happier marrying someone that I have met before and know, than to marry a stranger.