Doesn’t it sound weird? Practically, it isn’t. Because our society or a part of it, is already practicing it. We are already gambling on a social platform. But, what is the origin of the association of gambling with marriage? Gambling is all about playing, or doing a thing where we expect a reward, along with being vulnerable and understanding the risk.

Okay! If not exactly gambling, marriage is undoubtedly speculation. We look for a partner whom we are already familiar with, say, if it’s a love marriage, we prefer spending a couple of years with the person in order to better judge our decision of being with that person. Likewise, in arranged marriages too, we want to get married to a person who is somehow known to us, be it a ‘door ka rishtedaar’ or someone from our ‘khandaan.’ This is to better inquire about them or get a crystallized report about their behavior, character, habits, and what not so that we don’t just bump off ourselves.

There is no judgment or criticism on whether this approach of looking for a familiar partner is right or wrong. The idea is to understand the foundation that makes this mind-set. So, this is the base of writing. We do this as we are scared to take a risk with someone new, someone we don’t already know—neither the person, nor their family.

We fear what might exist behind the visible. This is the fear of the unknown, and trust me, we will never know about the possibility until we throw this fear out and take a leap of faith.