Well, at least that's what a recent survey held in the country suggests
Gone are the days when women used to be submissive and lived with their men under any circumstance and when divorce used to be a stigma. Well, at least that's what a recent survey held in the country suggests.
According to the survey, divorce rates are soaring among India's newly affluent middle class, as working women with independent incomes refuse to submit to the traditional ideal of marriage. The scenario seems to have completely changed and the women no longer give a second thought when it comes to seeking divorce.
Shweta Arora is a perfect example of such a modern-day woman. Though she had a love-cum-arranged marriage, she filed for a divorce even before her first marriage anniversary. And being economically independent she also didn't ask for any alimony, as getting a divorce was her primary concern.
Shweta shares: Soon after my marriage I came to know that my husband was a drug addict and had no intentions of quitting it. I tried my level best to convince him to join a rehab centre but failed. Once I realised the futility of it, I didn't waste a second and filed for a divorce and soon I got divorced. Now I am a free bird.
To Shalini Mathur, secretary of an NGO for women, the survey appears to be genuine as she feels that women no more think of divorce as a social stigma. Earlier also middle class women wanted to take divorce but couldn't because of the social pressures and also because they were dependent on their husbands for each and every thing.
Although the social stigma is still there, the scene has completely changed over the years, as these women don't give a damn. They are self-dependent and can now afford to live on their own terms. Besides, men have refused to change and are still the same narrow minded, opines Shalini.
But on the flip side Khursheed Kanga, a trans-personal psychotherapist, feels that being self-dependent is not the only reason for middle class women going in for divorce. I feel that women today are more ambitious and give more importance to their career.
The prime example of this change is that no woman likes to get married without completing her studies. For them studies come first and everything later. One can call it the outcome of the western influence but there has been a continuous change in the Indian value system.
Lawyer Shishir Bhatnagar says that nowadays it is mostly the women who approach lawyers for separation. Women today give due importance to their security, both social as well as financial, and also they are in no mood to handle any kind of pressures from their in-laws or husband.
Most of them are independent and like to live a peaceful life and because of this if anything goes wrong in their married life they don't give a second thought and file for a divorce, avers Bhatnagar.
