Men want to marry younger women. Don’t believe it if you are told otherwise
Physical complications I mean: difficulties in conceiving and all, you know.
Yes, age is just a number. And a very valid one. Like your bank balance.
I was whiling away my time on a lazy Sunday evening and came across a discussion thread on Quora. The discussion went something like this: Does Neetu Singh like Alia Bhatt more — more than Ranbir Kapoor’s alleged ex-girlfriends, namely, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif?
The answer was yes. And the explanations were many — mostly being Alia’s age.
Alia is younger than all of Ranbir’s ex-GFs.
Now, I am not actually bothered about Ranbir, Alia and Ranbir Kapoor’s mother — because I have met enough mothers in my life to know what I am now going to say.
1. Younger the woman, fewer the 'complications'
Physical complications, I mean — difficulties in conceiving and all, you know.
You will be given a maximum of two to five years time to ‘enjoy’ your life. Yes, that’s how Indian elders (read, mothers and mothers-in-law) talk about it. And fathers don’t talk about this — you know why!
If you are a woman of 24 years and your husband is, say, 30 years, well, you guys can ‘enjoy’ for four to five years. Then, it’s time to start a family. The younger the woman is, the more you can actually ‘enjoy’ without kids.
But eventually, that’s what the goal is.
So, it’s better if your hormones are in control and you don’t have fibroids, PCOD and all. Everyone knows that such complications don’t abide by any age. But yes, it’s always easier to get things under control when you are on this side of your thirties.
Believe me, a friend of mine — a professor — was very happy that her mom-in-law didn’t object to their love marriage, knowing she had serious PCOD complications. As a ‘return gift’, she got pregnant within two months of the wedding.
2. Oh, it’s so easy to 'explain everything'
Many believe that the Hindu Shastra has mentions of 22 types of women with whom you should never have sex. And ‘older women’ is just one category.
I don’t believe that scriptures have to tell us this. This is just common sense. The younger the woman is, the more docile/meek/submissive she will be. Also, adjustable. It’s very crucial for a woman to get 'adjusted' to a new environment. Younger the better to understand the new set of family members, new rules, new timings, etc.
3. That old trope of women being 'more mature'
I have been hearing this since I don’t remember when. And I am actually tired of reiterating this. But this is true.
Girls are more mature than boys.
How to contain this maturity, without hurting the very fragile male ego?
Get this mature girl married to a much older guy, so that there is no fair ground between them — the guy must have the advantage of age.
4. 'Who’ll take care of ageing parents?'
Woman are dashabhujas (ten-handed), as described in television commercials for healthy oil, multigrain atta, etc.
They have to take care of the well-being of each and every family member. How is that even possible?
By starting early.
So, catch them young!
5. Wealth: 'What else do women want?'
Do women have any representation in this narrative? Hai na…
Women, as most men have us believe, love older men because they are settled, earning a handsome amount of money.
What else do women want in life?
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Didn’t I think of Sachin Tendulkar and Anjali while I was writing this?
Yes, I thought of them and many other examples you are thinking of now. That neighbour your cousin told you about. Those couples you were discussing in an office party.
Yes, I too have such stories.
But I don’t want to repeat those stories, which are exceptions.
I wanted to tell stories which are written in a fine print underneath those Sunday matrimonials.