Since time immemorial, men have experimented with women. They chased as many women as they liked, hopped from one interest to another and the society justified it by casually attributing the ‘men will men’ cliche to it. When they finally met their marriage material woman, they were willing to let go of their freedom and give in to the inevitable commitment and life went on. Women, on the other hand, have always lived under more restrictive circumstances. So much so, when a girl finally got married, she had so much love to offer that decades would go by happily under the umbrella of all the fantasies she brought with herself when she signed up for a relationship which would last a lifetime.
With the rise of the feminist wave and the credibility which achieving equality has, women too have started experimenting : relationships in early teens are not uncommon and we all know, how once you’re in a relationship, you’re always in a relationship, only the guys keep changing. It’s funny how the addictive nature of relationships goes unnoticed. By the time you reach the age where you can actually have a meaningful relationship which can continue for as long as you live, you’re so exhausted, you have no emotion left. Years of investing in the wrong people, of being hurt and misunderstood, of being cheated on take a toll and when the right person comes by, you have nothing to offer. You’re tired even before it begins, the flashbacks from past keep haunting you, you’re too observant of the red-flags or the similarities this person might have with your ex. Relationships are hard, hard work but the exhaustion and defeat of all those years drains you of every bit of energy which you require to try and make it work.
Therefore, the divorce files are increasing rampantly and when a woman just after a few years into a happy marriage says that she doesn’t feel love anymore. It probably is right to assess that she ran out of love and men, oh men, they never really had much to offer any way. Maybe, just maybe, our parents were right when they told to not indulge in such ‘indecent activities’. Perhaps, we should be saving our limited amount of love for the people who would really matter and refrain from indulging in casual affairs which come with an expiry date because as much as you’d like to believe that there is no cost attached to it but every action, no matter how little emotional investment you intend to make into it, has an indispensable consequence.
thumpri 