Right to Marry: A Personal Experience

by Siddharthan Karunanidhi

all medical practices without the involvement of science should be wiped out from the face of the earth.

I was more worried about my mother: I had witnessed the pain of a woman who lives in our beautiful society after her husband dies. In our patriarchal society, women are born to suffer till their death. One cannot imagine the sufferings of widows. She, who has lost her husband, cannot walk on the streets as freely as others do. If anybody who goes to work sees her on the way, the sight of her is considered an ill-omen. They would go home again, drink some water, and after some time they would go to their work. She can’t wear new clothes. She can’t take part in any family events as before. She can’t love again. She can’t get married again. She has to live her entire life hiding herself from the society.

The one day, which I spent with a body without its soul, taught me a lot of things. It made me understand the society that I live in was full of shit, to say the least. It made me realize what I should believe in; what I should not. It made me realize there was nobody that I could depend on. It taught me not to get trapped in the society that was too regressive and not to get trapped in the thoughts of some stupid people. All these thoughts boiled down to only one thing: ignore people’s opinions about me.

What would have happened if she died and her husband lived?” “He would get married in a few months. They would have already started looking for a bride.”