What do you think teenagers and young adults are up-to this Valentine’s Day? Dinner dates with girlfriend or boyfriend or catching a movie with their lovers?
Or maybe a singles party for those who are solo?
Not if you are in Gujarat, though.
School kids and college-goers in Gujarat are up to something rather strange on this Valentine’s Day: they are taking a pledge to not get married without their parents’ approval.
We are not kidding. Around 10000 boys and girls in Surat are expected to take a pledge to marry ONLY those that their parents approve, as this report suggests.
That is not all. Word has it that the pledge requires the children to keep the promise even if it is at the cost of their relationships, if parents disapprove. In other words, they would also promise to breakup with whoever their parents don’t approve.
You must be begging to know why the millennials of Surat city are behaving quite like their counterparts from the rest of the country.
The question we should be asking isn’t ‘why’, but ‘who’. A volunteer organisation called Hasyamev Jayate, run by a ‘therapist’ Kamlesh Masalawala is behind this fete. They have roped in kids from 12 different schools.
When asked the reason behind such an initiative, Masalawala responded that it was to dissuade youngsters from taking drastic decisions that lead to short-term relationships.
How would parents ensure that their kids have long-lasting relationship? Your guess is as good as ours. Not to mention the lack of tact in introducing a topic as heavy as marriage upon teenagers, when our education system easily shies away from topics on sex education.
We wonder if this is in any way inspired by ‘Virginity Pledges’ taken by school kids and college goers in United States of America.
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