The Silent Death Of Love And Romance With Saree : Every One Knows Yet Can Not Acknowledge it.
Rajiv Upadhyay
It is strange to admit that in a land which still celebrates love of Radha and Krishna after say 5000 years , the love and romance died a silent death along with the end of saree . But that alas is the truth . There is however a small consolation that we were amongst the last where it happened !
But a question remains when it survived the five thousand years of our tumultuous history of defeats and subjugation , why should it die in just last fifty years when we were free ?
It started in west in 1900s .
Earlier for centuries marriage was an institution of making and supporting family . Man was the provider and woman looked after the house and children . She also in her spare time pursued some hobby or economic activity to help in meeting the family needs.
Love originated really from sexual attraction between opposite sexes driven by hormones and dating was the method of choosing partners . But marriage was a functional arrangement .The duties in a family were so well demarcated that very little conflicts took place and divorces were very rare . No one sought love in marriage . Beauty and physique lost importance beyond first five years . Yet a fully functional marriage survived as it gave security and emotional bonding needed by both partners .
As women became money earners after world wars due to large scale conscription their dependence on men reduced . This changed Love and Dating too . While men were still continued looking for beauty and softness , women changed silently. Love was no more at first sight driven by hormones and instincts . Women became more calculative and started looking for more than money and safety from men . They enjoyed their financial independence and wanted men to adjust to their needs . As men were neither prepared nor willing to lose freedom and convenience , as the sexual attraction declined, friction became dominant thus giving ‘ seven year itch’ in marriage .
This continued growing and both men and women realised that they really did not need each other if both could survive independently. Thus grew pornography where sexual needs could be satisfied partially without losing independence, Mobile phones , TVs , Social media replaced companionship as the primary form of entertainment .
The love and romance were finally dead in the smartphone , video game , AI age .
India was slow in catching up . Earlier the house remained traditional while men adjusted to the office culture of rulers , Shervani in moghul rule was replaced by coats but women saved the Indian culture and Saree was its best example . With the spread of western education , TV , Internet a very aggressive right conscious hedonist and materialistic women became a role model of young girls . Even girl parents fell for it. The boys life has now become very tough due to increased competition . From admission in nursery to admission in IIT , life has became an endless struggle . Dominating girls, divorces and alimonies have made marriage unattractive to boys also . Like west we too are heading for population collapse after fifty years .
Boys are busy in becoming financial success and have no time for girls today and dating courtships and girlfriends are at best a wasteful distractions . Intelligent girls too are similar .
So in the years to come while Ramnavmi and Janmashtami will still be celebrated but there will be no Sitas and Radhas in real life .
Love and Romance are finally dead !
