TNI Bureau: Marriage is a sacred institution and divorce is taboo in every society. It seems that if marriages are made in heaven, they are dissolving faster and faster here on earth.
There was a time when divorce was a word hardly heard of or even uttered, a time when marriages very rarely broke down. And though India, ranked as having one of the lowest divorce rates among all the countries of the world, but today, there is an alarming increase in the divorce rate over the last 5 years.
Especially in middle-class society, Divorcees have been regarded with insignificant, as the people who are divorced to come with a manufacturing defect. Also typical of a conservative society especially the middle-class, it is the woman who usually bears the brunt mostly. People who have no idea of who they are, or what they are, are willing to make a judgment on the character and label them as something of a misfit in the society.
Although the scenario is changing as the young generation is becoming individual and independent, the word divorce is still frowned upon in society. Thus, dealing with divorce needs a lot of emotional stability and endurance on the part of both the spouses.
There are many middle class families who are in favor of compromising, rather than taking action against the domestic violence. Divorce is not accepted as marriage in middle-class society. Families are scared, if their so-called reputation may go down because of the divorce in the family.
But today, in middle class society it seems, many people are living and breathing with failed marriages and threatening the social fabric and making the age-long belief in ‘happily ever after’ go through tremors. They want to accept the life as it is, calling it as their destiny, which is totally wrong insight.
In many middle-class societies, parents were supposed to stick together for their sake. The view was that divorce could leave an indelible emotional scar on children, and would also harm their social and economic future.
Yet under the new soul-mate model of marriage, divorce could be an opportunity for growth not only for adults but also for their offspring. The view was that divorce could protect the emotional welfare of children by allowing their parents to leave marriages in which they felt unhappy.
However, the middle class society needs to change their mentality. Thinking about society is though not wrong, but before society, one should think about their life and happiness. After all accepting divorce as marriage is also a happiness because as a society, we are giving someone a second chance to live their life on their terms.