The newspaper headline is screaming, “Karishma Kapoor
finally gets divorce”. The article also claims that she gets the custody of her
children as bonus. Most of the people would go gaga at this development. Twitterati
would celebrate this as a great achievement for the liberation of woman. A disturbing
trend has been developing in recent years. Many gossip columns and TV channels
began celebrating at the slightest whiff of divorce rumours about any celebrity
couple. It was not long ago that there were celebrations on rumours of a break
up between Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan; as if the vulture-eyed media derives
some sort of sadistic pleasure at imminent or sudden break ups. If you will
search in your memory bank; you can get an endless list of such news items. For
example; break up of Amir Khan and Rina Khan, possible break up of Shahrukh Khan
and Gauri Khan, break up of Farhan Akhtar and his wife, ……………you can go on and
on.
Many gossip columns, reality shows and TV programmes (which
come as fill ins in the absence of real news); always try to project such
happenings as something worthy of celebration. Marriage is considered to be the
oldest institution which survives so many tumultuous years because of mutual
trust and respect for each other’s space. Sometimes, both the partners also
learn to concede defeat in order to put their personal egos aside so that a
larger cause of raising the family and strengthening the society can be
pursued. In fact, the country which idolizes a Prime Minister who has to accept
the existence of his estranged wife should only be expected to react on these
lines.
I do not know how does the celebrity wife; or husband; feel
after separation. Probably, they are too busy in their professional life that
they may easily cope with the situation. Or probably, absence of financial
insecurity may be helping them to tide over the mental agony. Have you ever
thought about the poor mortals who may have suffered such setbacks in life? If you
will carefully browse through the numerous matrimonial ads, you will discover
that this trend is fast catching up even in the middle classes. There can be
numerous ads seeking bride or groom for divorced and issueless men and women. There
can be many cases in which the woman is duly returned to her parents’ house
after the formal nuptials are over. Reasons can be of many hues; like lack of
adipose tissues at adequate places, or lack of desirable goods in the dowry
list, or even lack of potency on the man’s part. In almost all of the cases, it
is the woman who has to face the ire from every member of her family and the
society. The ‘Simran’; in this case; is no longer expected to live a life on
her own terms. As it is a man’s world, the estranged man may easily get a
second chance to reboot his life. But in most of the cases, the woman has to
fight a long and weary battle for survival.
