We live in a society, where our lives are dictated by our age, especially our marriages. It is heartbreaking how society fails to understand that there is no right time or age to find your better half.
In a country, where many girls are only considered settled if they marry before a certain age, it is no surprise that many times women end up marrying undeserving men. But in the midst of these heartbreaking stories, we have an inspiring love story of popular Bollywood actress, Suhasini Mulay. Suhasini has beaten all the odds to remind us that there is no right age to get married.
The 69-year-old actress met her soulmate on Facebook when she turned 60. Walking down the aisle at the age of 60, she inspired many to not let society and their age dictate their lives.
According to the sources, Suhasini was in a live-in relationship in the 1990s. Unfortunately, this relationship did not work out well. After parting ways with her lover, the actress remained single for almost 20 years.
In those 20 years, Suhasini created a name for herself by giving us some of her best performances. Be it Lagaan or Hu Tu Tu or Dil Chahta Hai and Jodha Akbar, Suhasini never disappointed her audience. She also won National Award for Hu Tu Tu (1999) for her exemplary performance.
While she was busy working, she hardly knew what plans destiny had for her. Things took a beautiful turn when one of her colleagues asked her to create a Facebook account for work. Soon after Suhasini signed on Facebook, she met her future husband, Atul Gurtu online.
Without caring about society’s unfair age rules and regulations, the couple exchanged a number of conversations. But, there were two specific incidents that made the actress confident about this relationship. The first moment was when Atul wrote to her one day that,
“I know you are busy and happy with what you are doing, and that’s great, but in future if you ever think of a relationship (I had indicated that I was single) or if you ever want to develop one, it’s not going to happen on its own. You will have to work at it? give it time. Relationships have to be built; they don’t fall from the sky.”
It made her feel confident about her choice. And, then it was when she stumbled over an article that Atul wrote on his first wife whom he lost to cancer six years back. This heart-touching article captured how Atul and his former wife did all the things that she always wanted to do before she died.
It touched her heart how Atul dealt with his former wife’s disease in such an optimistic manner.
It is inspiring how this actress shattered the social norms or myths attached to a marriageable age. And she didn’t let the hurtful comments and frowns of her closed ones change her decision. In an interview with Good Housekeeping, Suhasini said:
“When we told the pandit that we were the “to-be-married bride and groom”, he was stunned and stammered, ‘Ji, aap dono? Very good, very good’. We cracked up laughing? We got a similar reaction at the court too. But who cared… We were happy!”
When the couple met at a restaurant with Suhasini’s mother (90), she asked Atul pointedly why he wanted to get married at this age (Atul was 64 when they got married). But, without any hesitation, Atul replied:
“I can live alone, and Suhasini surely can as well. But if we have a chance of happiness, why not?”
However, there were many who still couldn’t believe that she got married at 60. It is quite inspiring how she didn’t pay any heed to those who think age is a deterrent for marriage, specifically for women.
It is very important to celebrate such rare stories, especially in a society like ours.
It is heartbreaking how even in the 21st century, many women are still raised with the expectations that they should get married in mid-twenties and have kids before turning 30. This regressive thought-process has made many women give up on their dreams to settle down with someone who was not right for them.
Dear Women, It doesn’t matter whether we are 25, 30, or 45 years old, you should get married only when you feel you are with the right person. Don’t let society pressurize you into a relationship that may give you only grief and sadness.