Marriage is certainly not fun but quite a tapasya in its own right, grathasthashram, a labour and effort through which one prepares for the higher life.
As for Indian wedding, my issue is the paraphernalia that surrounds it, especially the ostentatious show-off ceremony, often the drink and dance associated with it, the throwing off of money, the wastage of food, money, time, energy, the institutionalising of it as if love could be chained to the demands of society while, amidst all this the true significance, sacredness and the truth of togetherness is lost.
The essence of marriage is to keep God in the centre while two people walk together hand in hand, heart in heart to the great goal of ascension beyond the present Man, confronting the enigma of life, meeting its challenges with the power of love that is loyal unto death, supporting each other and together serving the Divine Purpose within them and the world. None can be against such a beautiful effort. The question is whether these things can be institutionalized. It is the same thing as institutionalising God into an organised Religion which, often has a tendency to turn into organised crime all in the name of God, a socially approved or a legally accepted document from which the vastness of Love and the Truth of God escapes leaving just an empty shell liable to misuse for vested interests. It is this that the Time Spirit is challenging now and not the truth and sacredness of a man and a woman coming together for higher purposes.
