What if I don’t get married?
I recently asked myself
I live in a village
Still this question comes to me
I am a Muslim,
Still this question comes to me
I believed,
Perhaps still believe,
Marriage brings life peace,
Still this question comes to me
I know
Some great men
And women of history
Were married
Still this question comes to me
§
What if I don’t get married?
I receive,
To this question,
Curiously,
Several answers,
Different and diverse,
Of which some I share here
My mom,
Like most other moms I know,
Will get disturbed
My relatives,
Most friends,
May make
A tragic hero
Out of me
Being single,
Still,
I feel,
I can live a life
Without caring,
And meeting
Various,
Often meaningless
Societal ‘standards’
And ‘expectations’
Built by elites
For elites
If I’m not married
I can travel
With no limit
To anywhere I want to
Caring little about boundaries
I can move to different lands,
With no promises to return,
Meeting different people,
Speaking different languages,
Living different lives
Being single,
I may not be worried for money
And could avoid earning
For the sake of earning
If I’m not married,
I may taste
How the Sufis live
Live in peace,
As a freeman,
I may feel empowered to:
Take new risks
Question injustice
Condemn wrongs
Be a voice for the voiceless
Single,
Journalist,
I can do stories,
Which need to be told,
Which a married me might think twice about
I can quit my job
Before my editor says
“We have limitations”
With nothing to lose,
I may see the line
That separates Impossible from Possible,
Abnormal from Normal,
Fades away
‘Successful life’
A poorly defined concept
I hear quite often,
Repeatedly confuses me,
May not disturb me any longer
Without marriage
My life
Valued
May become more meaningful
Muhammed Sabith is an independent journalist and academic form Kerala. He currently works as a guest faculty at Pondicherry University’s Mahe Centre, Mahe.
Featured image credit: Angel Origgi/Unsplash