21 January,2011 07:20 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
Women's network, an NGO, plans to organise a meet for people interested in live-in relationships after their conference on Jan 23
Just as one can find their life partner through arranged marriages, one can now choose partners if they wish to have a live-in relationship with someone. Very soon, such a network might come into reality. This revolutionary step is being taken by some women's organisations in the city.u00a0
The second 'Marriage Conference' to be held on January 23 will pass a resolution that live-in relationship should be considered ethical like a conventional marriage, said Mangala Samant, President of Women's Network, an NGO. The NGO will be conducting the second marriage conference in association with a noted women's magazine Miloon Saryajani. "We are expecting about 500 youngsters to participate actively in the second marriage conference," she said. Organising a meet on live-in relationships would be the next logical step in which the issue of unwed mothers will also be tackled. Live-in relationships can tackle the issue of orphaned children. "We are waiting for the proper movement and mindset of young generation and their parents to accept live-in as a natural option like conventional marriages," Samant said.
V R Geetali, Editor of Miloon Saryajani, said that since we accept marriage as an only option for the past 5,000 years with all its defects, lets give a chance to live-in relationships as a substitute. "Women are the worst sufferers in marriages and therefore many thinking women want to choose live-in relationships as the next natural option for marriage. It is sad that still nobody comes forward openly to express his or her will to accept live-in relationships," she said.
Veteran woman activist Vidya Bal said that many sex-related crimes are the fall-out of unsuccessful marriages. "To begin with we are taking an open interview of Prakash and Leena Budhdhisagar, a couple who are living in together in the second marriage conference.u00a0 People have an option for a marriage. But those who want a 'live-in' should also have a chance to choose it. Live-in relationships have stigma attached to it since having sexual relations without getting married is a sin as per the Hindu ethics," she said.
