“Yes, you are!” comes the reply. It is going to happen one day so why not today? Why not now?

Struggling for arguments to back up her idea of living her dreams before marriage, she retorts back helplessly.

“There’s a lot I want to do before I end up living a life of an ordinary girl”, she says, this time hopeful that she has hit the right point.

“Life of an ordinary girl? This life is the ultimate destiny. No matter how extraordinary a girl might be, getting an ideal life partner is all she wishes for at one point of her life or another, besides, you will still get to live your dreams after the wedding.”

Dreams, they say. The same dreams they imparted in her, the ones she grew up hoping to fill one day. But here she sits now like a dolled up lamb to the slaughter, fighting a never-ending battle inside her head about whether or not should she kill the phoenix born from the ashes of her murdered hopes, yet again.

I do not intend to write against early marriage for I believe in it from a religious perspective but what I do find perplexing is that our society has taken it to a new level. It remains a tragic reality that females in our society are left at the mercy of the 'decision-makers'. They are the people who decide their future. Be it a father who decides the academic career of his daughter, certain that his daughter cannot decide for herself, a brother who remains eager to watch the way his sister breathes, and finally her husband who is to decide the rest of her life. Fair enough!

The patriarchal society of ours has been suppressing females and their rights in the name of either the religion or the prevalent societal norms, rendering them helpless and complacent.

Having said that, I now come towards the other part of this piece; marriage as the binding force. Marrying children against their will binds them in a forceful bond. Choosing the right life partner does not only make one content and happy, but also helps them attain their goals and set them even higher. However, looking around in our society, we find a lot of people facing the aftermath of forced marriages. Devoid of love and affection, couples either end up divorcing each other or spending their entire lives unhappily.

It is very important to marry with one’s consent and equally important to marry when one is ready to do so. Giving up on dreams because your partner wants you to is the worst case scenario. There is a dire need to bring this fact into consideration that marrying the daughters when they reach puberty is not really rightful until they are not ready to accept the new life with new challenges that await them.