I had made

this post

with a photograph of an astrolger’s board. When I posted a link to it recently, I got this reply from :

“Who started the institution called ‘Marriage’ I want to know? Can the Jothishi baba enlighten us? “Baba & bloggers I have my own discourse on life’s troubles, hear me out, as its free of cost (like everything else which is useless.) Marriage is the root of all the troubles, eliminate it and live happily. No Marriage. No need of a steady job. Take up any employment to feed yourself you don;t need job security if you;re single. Formal education is the trump card played mostly during match making, you can always be a guitarist or a painter and be single for all the world that cares about Degree->Dowry match making. No marriage No Husband No wife, No court, no enemies! Can’t guarantee on sickness though, it might hit you anytime single, double or divorced & no mantra tantra can help you in that! & what’s that abroad?!! If you’re single you can live happily in India or Africa! Abroad is again linked to this whole NRI-marriage sham. Sorry baba but if people (Particularly middle-class Indians am refering to) had ‘gyan’ they would not have all these ‘issues’ and they would not need you in the first place.”

My response was:

“Seriously, I think marriage, as an institution, developed in the days when children were born not by choice….and their safety and care was paramount, along with that of the woman who cared for them and reared them. And since it is still the most stable relationship between two people (of any sex), it endures, so much so that many people in same-sex relationships want the bond of marriage. However, today, when some(but alas, nowhere near all) women have the choice of having children or not, and when many women have economic independence, perhaps marriage is less a desirable than it used to be…but women do seek a stable relationship for many reasons, so I don’t see marriage fading away any time soon. We also need the rites of passage that a wedding ceremony entails….”