‘When are you getting hitched?’
We’re pretty sure that you may have faced a situation like this at least once in your life- at a wedding function, an auntie who you may have met just once in your life, asks you ‘Why aren’t you married?’. At a job interview for a prestigious position, the interviewer asks you ‘What are your family plans?’ Yes, we do agree that India is waking up to the possibilities of relationships which do not involve the saath pheras but shaking off traditional ideas of marriage as followed by society is definitely hard as well.
With the high rate of divorces and separations plaguing our society these days, taking an inward look into just how comfortable one is with the idea of marriage is the need of the hour today. We list ten questions that you need to ask your partner before you actually take the plunge:
- Are you getting hitched because you really want to start a new journey or is it parental pressure to tie the knot at the earliest that’s the reason behind it? How mentally prepared are you and your partner to embark on a life changing journey together?
- Are we going to get our own place or do we need to stay with your folks? It isn’t the most comfortable question to ask but knowing if you are walking into a joint family setup is important before you get hitched. If you aren’t comfortable, speak up now.
- How well do you know his friends circle? It’s true that the kind of friends one has says a lot about one’s character too. If there’s an ex lurking somewhere in the shadows, don’t hush it up. And yes, meeting the ex could help in restoring peace within.
- Are you willing to be a parent? Having children was considered a natural outcome of marriage once upon a time, but these days many couples are more than happy to be childless and would rather raise pets or just be by themselves. Not wanting to have children is no longer considered ‘abnormal’.
- What are your views on religion? Is spirituality important to you?
- How are we going to divide the housework after we get hitched? Will we be employing someone or are we both going to split the duties? Housework is unsurprisingly the biggest grouse that working couples moan about ever so often.
- Whose income are we going to spend for monthly expenses? Do we put a share in a joint account? How do we decide how much to save? Working couples often argue over money matters especially when it comes to meeting expenses. Talking about this at the start helps you plan your financial health for the future.
- What assets do you already own or will inherit? These do not need to be assets that are gifted at the time of marriage, it could also refer to a plot of land or a flat that your partner may have already invested in single handedly.
- What did you like about me? Couples rarely ever tell their partners what they admire most about them, but just sharing this information not only increases one’s confidence but is also the key to keeping the spark alive in the years to come.
Image courtesy Camera Crew
