With teens growing up too soon for their parents’ liking, young marriages have become a major concern for parents, who find it difficult to deal with “youngsters in love”. While the law plans to come up with a comprehensive and realistic solution to deal with teenage marriages without parents’ consent, according to reports, the Delhi High
court will stress on the need to educate the youth on how getting married early places a huge burden on their development. When asked what prompts them into taking a step against parents, GenY cited many reasons.
“My wife and I decided to tie the knot when her parents decided to marry her off to someone else. I was working in a call center at that time and was still in college. She asked them to wait, but they refused. We decided to marry in court. There was a lot of drama at home, but things settled down gradually,” says Nitin, a 25-year-old working professional.
It’s not just “love” that drives them to walk down the aisle without consent from parents, but stressful circumstances, which they say, leave them with no choice. “Family pressure, outdated traditions, and family background issues still exist. That was one reason why we chose to run away. If our parents had agreed, I would have waited for some more years before settling down,” says Anuj Kumar (name changed on request), who recently married his girlfriend.
His father, however, had no choice, but to accept the bride. “I understand that he had his own reasons for the action he took, but kids must also realise how badly it affects their parents,” he says.
Insecurity and anxiousness about the future also compels many to take extreme steps. “I’m from Chandigarh, and I live in with my boyfriend here. Due to a family feud, my parents don’t want me to marry him. We’ll run away if they don’t agree,” says Shreeja (name changed on request), who works with a media firm. While the debate on runaway marriages doesn’t seem to end, psychologists believe that with changing times, the new generation is only becoming more restless with “short attention span.” “Which means, they’re impulsive, and have a ‘single track orientation’ where they just focus on one thing, for instance marrying the girl, in this case, without thinking about the consequences,” says Dr Geetanjali Kumar, a counsellor and psychologist.