Author: Nistha Sahoo
A country with diverse
economies, perspectives, ideologies, beliefs, traditions and thoughts makes
India extraordinary and exceptional. A country where marriage is deep rooted
with past customs and traditions, intrudance of a new thought or new vision
withers out the viability of things from a bigger picture.
A thought of
Sologamy seemed to be a new hope in the repressed boundaries of society which
tries to fit oneself in the same jurisdiction. In a false world of prejudiced
promises, someone prioritising oneself over anyone is gutsy.
An individual’s
interpersonal relationship is the preliminary step to envision a country of
freedom and peace. Acceptance of something out of the box, understanding the
concern behind that is essential. Being real is an act of authenticity not a
disgrace.
To understand the way
marriage is portrayed in India, we need to dig inside the essentials of
marriage act, rights of Article 21 and superstitious practices to pave our path
towards understanding the concept of sologamy better.
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
·
ESSENTIALS OF HINDU
MARRIAGE ACT
·
STANCE OF ARTICLE 21 ON
MARRIAGE
·
SUPERSTITIOUS METHODS
OF MARRIAGE
·
SOLOGAMY: A REVOLUTION
AGAINST CONVENTIONAL NORMS
·
CONCLUSION
|
ESSENTIALS OF HINDU MARRIAGE ACT IN INDIA:
Every essential aspect in life needs governance, likewise the institution of marriage is governed under Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.The dynamism of marriage in India can be precisely understood by the guidelines formulated by adhering to the cultural diversities of the country.
A Hindu Marriage under Hindu Marriage Act ,1955 says that the parties should be monogamous, sound mind, major by age, beyond prohibited degree and beyond sapinda relationship.
1. MONOGAMY:
The act provides the rule of monogamy and prohibits ideologies of polygamy and polyandry which includes numerous mates. During the lifetime of a spouse, doing a second marriage would be considered void and against law, even if its contracted outside India.
2. SANITY OR SOUND MIND:
Mental stability and sound mind to take up the crucial charge of marriage is a must. Section 5(ii) provides about the mental capacity of the spouses at the time of the marriage.
According to this clause, neither party at the time of marriage;
(a) Should be incapable to give consent
(b) Though valid consent is given, they must not be suffering from mental disorder which may lead to struggles in marriage and procreation of children
(c) Are subject to recurrent attack of insanity or epilepsy
The marriage would lead to voidability if the mental incapacity of any form affects the very purpose of marriage.
3. AGE OF PARTIES:
The marriage can’t happen if the parties are not eligible enough to marry. The minimum age for marriage is fixed. The age of marriage for marriage for the men is 21 years and the age for the bride shifted from 18 to 21 years looking towards the equal footing of women as par as men.
4. BEYOND PROHIBITED DEGREE:
There is a particular jurisdiction within which the marriage is restricted and prohibited by law for maintaining the sanctity of marriage.
Section 5(iv) prohibits marriage under “prohibited degree of relationship with each other. “Lineal ascendant, wife or husband of lineal ascendant, brother and sister, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew are some bonds which goes beyond the regulations of law.
STANCE OF ARTICLE 21 ON MARRIAGE:
Popularly known as the heart of the fundamental rights, Article 21 ensures that no individual shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by the law.
The article guarantees two rights i.e.
1) Right to life
2) Right to personal liberty
The article entails being able to live a complete life of dignity and meaning.
SC on Shafin Jahan VS Ashokan K.M. (Hadiya Marriage Case) claimed that right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to right to life and liberty.
Justice Chandrachud says, intimacies of marriage lie within the core zone of privacy therefore the choice of partner is very exclusive domain to an individual. The Constitution approves every individual to freely practise, profess and propagate religion.
Individual autonomy is seen as supreme when choices of faith and belief is taken into consideration in the matters of marriage. The essence of personal liberty cannot be bounded by law or the state, declared Chandrachud.
Moreover, he added that Constitution exists for believers as well as agnostics, society has no role to play determining the choice of partner. Social approval for intimate personal decisions is not needed and we need not validate it to anyone.
At last, he underlined in his judgement that Constitution protects personal liberty from disapproving audiences. The constitutional freedom is of top authority and cannot surpass the social values and morals.
SUPERSTITIOUS METHODS OF MARRIAGE:
Apart from the traditional marriage rituals, many orthodox and superstitious methods are deeply embedded within the norms of Indian society.
Tree marriage is one such custom that is widely used in different parts of the society especially in Odisha and Bihar to fuel the belief of astrology in order to remove the Manglik dosh in the natal chart. Few tribes too practice this if a girl is left with no groom. These obnoxious and impractical methods foster a question mark on the feasibility of marriage.
On the name of marriage, performing such unrealistic customs on the name of cure or remedy is unacceptable.
Similarly, animal-human marriage holds an important role in many mythological stories and practiced in traditions too. Santhal tribe accepts marriage to a dog in order to discard the evil if a child gets a tooth in the upper gum. In Darjeeling, first menstruation of girls leads to marriage with a dog or a banana tree as a custom.
These mythical rituals undermine the purpose and vision of marriage. Shifting the responsibility by escaping from facing the reality in order to mask oneself is not the purpose of marriage. Marriage is a procedure of reunion not a dump yard of insecurities.
SOLOGAMY: A REVOLUTION AGAINST CONVENTIONAL NORMS:
In the ongoing conventional and superstitious practices of marriage, sologamy stands out to be an unconventional technique to value oneself over anyone else.
Kshama Bindu, first women in India to opt for sologamy broke the shackles of stereotypes to inspire others who lost themselves in the tiresome journey of finding true love. Her step is an affirmative towards loving oneself.
Her journey as a bisexual was just like a rollercoaster ride. She experienced flings of love with a man and a woman in the past. Wearied by the tussle of finding love or getting divorced multiple times is unacceptable.
Bindu prioritises herself love journey to give all the love to oneself instead of being a part of fake propaganda. She believes herself to be a queen who needs no prince charming to define her authenticity.
A step towards securing one’s own belief, Bindu faced unwanted battles which thrashed the shower of questions on her. But in vain, she stood headstrong reflecting her impeccable confidence to slam the questions with confident standpoints.
The legal fraternity didn’t encourage the idea of sologamy and argued that two persons are required in a marriage, hence sologamy is not legal in India. Senior lawyer Chandrakant Gupta claimed that, Sologamy will never pass the legal scrutiny due to the carved terminologies of Hindu Marriage Act.
Political arena also bagged their disallowance by creating hurdles in the self-love journey of the unshakable Bindu. The Deputy Mayor termed Kshama to be mentally distorted and found her hurting the faith of Hindu religion. She was not allowed to marry in a temple as a breach of ethical boundaries too.
Counterattack these claims, Bindu questions, if the country accepts marriage with a dog, tree or objects then why can’t it accept the marriage with self? Putting forward this agenda, she says there is no guarantee in heterosexual, gay or lesbian marriages nowadays, everything is transitory.
The Pandit who was initially supposed to marry her, affirms to marry her to a doll, tree, matki but denies to conduct the marriage to oneself.
Her strong determination and outlook towards self-marriage is a step towards empowering women stuck in toxic and abusive relationships. It is a fight for the women, who need no validation to feel the love for oneself. She got many supporters who joined hands to foster her idea and thanked her for being a revolution herself.
CONCLUSION:
“The life is mine alone. So, I have stopped asking people for directions to places they’ve never been.”-Giennon Doyle
The above quote explains the need of oneself to realize their importance in order to build a palace of their own decisions. A real life full of honest yet true decisions is worth than leading a mundane life with secluded results.
As humans we are not here to run in a race to define the degree of correctness or error rather, we are here to find our niche which best suits ourselves. If the perspectives are different, the outlooks are different then expecting a generalised life isn’t a crime? Destiny has carved unique purposes and none of us can replicate others. Honouring one’s own views along with accepting others as they are will make the ecosystem a peaceful and amicable environment.
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