I recently watched a Hollywood movie, “The Heartbreak Kid“, a comedy movie about marriage, love and fidelity. Edward (Ben Stiller) is 40 something and hasn’t yet found the right woman to marry or commit to.

Then by coincidence he finds the right woman (who he thinks is the right one) and marries her in a few months time, only to realize she is not his type. He falls for someone else while he is still honeymooning and he eventually dumps his wife for her.

While the movie may be done in jest, it just exposes the weakness in the committment in marriages these days. One may argue that its prevalent in the western society, and its all about individuality and respecting each other’s space. If those tenets are compromised and you feel uncomfortable with the person, you should call it quits. But I disagree. A successful and ever lasting marriage is the premise of a well functioning society.

In India fortunately, marriage is a committment that is sacrosanct, and as a society we still look at divorce as a taboo. But I see the growing trend of materialism and individualism in urban India ruining marriages, which isn’t a good thing.

Though individuality is fine, its more about togetherness and compromising for the better. Individualism, materialism and ego only leads to a degradation of the society. It leads to broken families, delinquent individuals and an inhumane world.