In this article, it talks about how men and women that fall in love are forbidden to get married due to the tradition of arranged marriage. It is not acceptable for someone to marry someone of a lower caste. A specific couple, Aarti and Sanjay, wanted nothing more than to be together, but Aarti's family would not allow her to marry this "lowly" boy. Because of her disobedience, Aarti was beaten by her family and her neighbors and was sold by her family 3 times! Luckily, a group called the Love Commandos, which consists of volunteers, provided the lovers with safety. Even though the two are technically married, they are still in danger and are under a sentence of death. The Love Commandos group formed after many brutal killings took place. They value love and want to protect others that do as well, even with their minimal funding and even if it means putting their life in danger.
Those who defend arranged marriages argue that people who fall in love before marriage and then get married will end up falling out of love. Whereas, those who get married without first being in love will then fall in love later. So, parents think they are helping their children by forcing them to marry a certain person. So really they just are trying to do what is best for their kids, right? If that is the case, then why are they beating their child? Even if she is disobeying their wishes, that does not mean that they should be allowed to physically harm her. It seems pretty hypocritical to me to act as if you are just trying to give them a good life while at the same time causing them tremendous pain.
This article reminds me of a movie called the Wedding Planner. Jennifer Lopez's family continually tries to influence her into marrying this guy. She is not interested because she is not in love with him. When she gets angry with her father he confesses that his marriage to her mother was arranged and they were very unhappy about it at first. Over time, they grew to love each other and he wanted the same for his daughter. Jennifer Lopez almost goes against what her heart is telling her to do (marry a different guy) but realizes it is not for her. Just because it worked out for her parents does not mean that it would work out for her as well. Personally, I think that those in India that believe in arranged marriages need to realize that arranged marriages can work or they can fail and the same goes for marriages that are not arranged. By not letting their children decide for themselves they are only pushing them away and possibly losing them as a part of their life, such as in the case of Aarti.
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