It felt so good to finally be an independent adult.Ī single woman in a free-spirited city attracts men like a moth to the flames.

There was no one to dictate terms to her. At the end of the day, she felt good sending some money home for her parent´s sustenance and being able to save after all her financial commitments and luxurious splurges. Sofia loved the feeling of balancing responsibility and fun. A true melting pot of cultures! If she worked hard during the weekdays, she partied even harder during the weekends. Anyway, it was only a matter of few days before she would be out of Aligarh and leading her own life in Mumbai.

Sofia didn´t want lead a boring life waking up to one person her entire life. She never understood what joy the two of them got in being stuck together for life in such mundane existence. Her father´s idea of romance was listening to Jagjit Singh´s ghazals over a cup of Assam chai and poring himself in the newspapers. Her mother meekly listened to her father´s instructions at home like a robot. Her mother´s sole purpose in life, it seemed, was to slog in the kitchen and win her father´s heart through his stomach. Sofia was a life-long witness to her parent´s bland marriage. And since the families approved of each other, the Nikah was done six months later. Her mother was the fortunate nineteenth girl that her surgeon father had met. They met courtesy the dinosaur style of dating – Arranged Marriages.

Not that her parents had any exciting love story to begin with in the first place. Cold water on fire! Like her parent´s marriage. Love stories were fascinating but marriage was a dampener. The truth was that she never felt any excitement towards the institution. It was a frustrating ordeal for Sofia duelling with her parents daily over marriage. “Today´s generation is all about Í, Me, Myself´. I am not interested in marriage or having babies. I am fed up with all this marriage talk now. “I´m moving to Mumbai in a week and taking up that job offer for the Financial Analyst´s role in Accenture. Marriage brings stability, structure and civility in relationships and the society as a whole.” “Sofia, there is no point in simply rebelling without a cause. “Alone but not lonely, Ma! Does everyone have to get married? I don´t see any fruitful purpose in it.” “Everyone tells that in the beginning, Beta! But, it´s not good to live alone, you know.” “No! I told you I am not interested in marriage.” So, please stop looking for alliances for me, okay?” “I´m telling Papa and you for the umpteenth time that I am not interested in getting married.

SOUL SOJOURN by Tina Sequeira