14 Narrative Essay Topics on Arranged Marriages in India

If you are writing an essay on arranged marriages in India, you need to base your narrative in something related to your life and experiences. To do that, having some facts might make the work a bit easier. Remember too that these should only help to guide the direction of your narrative essay, but that the true substance of the work should revolve around your personal stories or experiences.

Below are 14 great facts about the topic which can help you along the way:

In India, 90% of all marriages are arranged, which is roughly 30% more than the statistical likelihood of arranged marriages around the world. If you are in an arranged marriage in India and get a divorce, many parents will disown their child.
In India, arranged marriages are viewed not as something done based on feelings, but something done based on a commitment and through that commitment, feelings will develop with time. This form of thinking is one which is emotionally beneficial, and one which alters the psychology of the two people entering into the relationship. Instead of viewing the relationship as something to be sustained until smaller habits or nuances or challenges push the limits of what one person will accept and the relationship is broken, these arranged relationships enter into the relationship with a more accepting foundation, one which isn’t “I will stay until…” but rather “I will stay no matter”.
Trust, compatibility, love, and adjustment are proven factors in sustainable and long term marriages. In fact, the manner in which the marriage was formed is not a significantly influencing factor in its success. In arranged marriages, for example, all of the new elements of the other person are discovered along the way, each day, something that adds charm and elongates the duration of mystery.
In India it is believed that marriages are contractual, but that within them time is adequate in fostering newer feelings for the person, something that keeps the feelings between the man and woman sustained throughout their lifetime, in newer and evolving ways.
In India, those in arranged marriages stayed in love for roughly thirty years after the marriage was formed, whereas those who entered into “love marriages”—those based on love and not on a family arrangement—only stayed in love for 5 years.
In India women are raised learning to cook and sew so as to make them more successful wives. They are also encouraged to search for a groom who is blessed and approved by the parents as the best achievement in life, for not marrying in India is considered to not only be a burden on one’s family but an embarrassment.
In India the potential husband and wife have the option of meeting one another before they marry to see if the relationship is sustainable. Once the two approve of the match, there is regularly a period of months or a year before the wedding takes place during which time the couple is engaged. This period of time functions as a dating period, the same way dating periods take place in the west.
The wedding ceremony in India is typically one week long and is paid for by the father of the bride. The father of the bride is also responsible for providing a dowry, or cash or gifts that accompany the bride as she moves into her new home. This is meant to be her form of financial security.
In India, daughters marry into a family. Marriage is not something that just takes place between the man and the woman, but rather, between the two families. And more specifically, it is something which takes place between the woman and the family of the man. The reason for this is that wives enter into the male’s family unit and live with them. Some households contain all of the wives and children for all of the sons.
In India, the burden of arranging the marriage is often that of the parents. The father is responsible for selecting and arranging for a husband to marry his daughter, something which takes into account the religion of the man and the caste systems. In India, it is, at best, frowned upon to marry outside of the family’s caste so they must select an eligible man who is in the same caste as the family.
When a father is selecting a potential match for his daughter, he will most likely use astrology to ensure that the horoscopes of the two people are a suitable match, and if they are not the marriage cannot happen. The father also has to investigate the man to ensure he will make a suitable match and make his daughter happy, and that his family is suitable as well.
The divorce rate in India is only 2%, which is strikingly low especially when compared to the rest of the world where the rate is an average of 50%. These statistics show that while there may be debatable aspects around arranged marriages, they nonetheless remain successful significantly more often than in other countries.
On the wedding day, there is typically a small religious ceremony first, and then social gatherings after with dancing, food, and music. Each day of the week long celebrations require different hairstyles for the bride, different make up, different outfits, and different jewelry. There is a henna ceremony as well.
On the day of the wedding, the couple circles the holy fire seven different times, encompassing the ancient tradition of Saat Pheras. Once this is done, the couple is wedded for seven lifetimes. This, in Hinduism, is considered to be the act which sustains life and after it is complete will the man and woman be declared husband and wife. Each of the Pheras is said to bring about different blessings from the various gods and goddesses. There are blessings for togetherness, trust and love, faith, loyalty forever, financial stability, health, and progeny.

These facts are extremely important if you write a narrative essay on arranged marriages in India.

But if you want to make up a good topic for your paper as well, make use of our 20 sample topics related to marital relationships in India. However, if you just have troubles with organizing your narrative essay, then visit our guide that will help you produce an excellent paper.

References:
Bansal, P. (2015). Arranged marriages losing respect in India? – The Times of India. The Times of India. Retrieved 7 December 2015, from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/Arranged-marriages-losing-respect-in-India/articleshow/49058130.cms
Clark-Decès, I. The right spouse.
Kannan, C. (1963). Intercaste and inter-community marriages in India. Bombay: Allied Publishers.
Mansukhani, A. (2007). I Married a Total Stranger. Marie Claire. Retrieved 7 December 2015, from http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/advice/a856/arranged-marriage-india/
Myers, J., Madathil, J., & Tingle, L. (2005). Marriage Satisfaction and Wellness in India and the United States: A Preliminary Comparison of Arranged Marriages and Marriages of Choice. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 83(2), 183-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2005.tb00595.x
Pande, R. (2014). ‘I arranged my own marriage’: arranged marriages and post-colonial feminism.Gender, Place & Culture, 22(2), 172-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0966369x.2013.855630
Reddy, V., & Yogasri Srinivas, V. (1978). Marriages in India. Gurgaon: Academic Press.