According to our culture, if two people are in love and want to marry, they can elope no matter what their families think. This proves that they value each other more than anything, and after that it’s up to the families to reconcile themselves to the match. It can sound old-fashioned, even backward, the way the custom is sometimes described—a woman “running away”—but it is actually liberating, taking power away from the parents and giving it to the young couple and specifically to the girl, who has to agree to the plan.
