STRADA PLACIDO: Reflections

Salaamaleykum.

http://www.whbc1963.org/images/gods_design_for_marriage.jpg

      Last year, when one of my acquaintance declared that he will be marrying a lass from his classroom, I was taken aback. He was 18years and the girl, whom according to my sources, was 22years at the time. Leave alone the age gap, or even the age to begin with, but the fact that both were students who were under their parents' financial dependence and especially the fact that they were studying at a country so far away from their families, made me ridicule the idea.
    I assumed that this was yet another example of Zeitgeist (spirit of time). He was probably mad with love. However, I was wrong. Apparently their families arranged them to be married even before they left their country. It was an arranged marriage.
   Today, one year on, they are happy, and expecting a bundle of joy. (Though I wonder how will they study and raise a child at one time, in a foreign land away from their family)

Few weeks ago, at my high school reunion, I was told that someone from my batch, has just recently got divorced. I was surprised he, being a cityboy, even married at such young age. I was not expecting the next surprise. It seems it was his 2nd divorce in 4 years. His first marriage was when he was merely 18yrs old. Then, he had a child, divorced, and then married again, end eventually divorced again.

http://janeheller.mlblogs.com/divorce.jpg

The two events above, and the statistics of the staggering divorce rates, accelerating by the month, made me question the rationale of the situation.

I've come to conclusion that, arrange marriage tends to have a higher success rate compared to love marriage. For those of us that has been in love before, will know that love does not last. Love is like a spark that can die out any time. When love dies out, a relationship is doomed to failure, except with perseverance and effort by both parties.

Let me stress again, a successful love story can only happen, with efforts from BOTH sides!

So, if you're in love , in cloud nine, and wanna get married as soon as possible, hit the brakes and review the situation. Take some time off to be truly sure that that 'love' you feel is not just a momentary spark.

Salaamaleykum,

Maze! And the first thing that pops in our head is those fun filled exciting puzzles we had to do back in pre-school days.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/images/lrk-maze.gif

Few days past, i was in my down mode as usual, and realised that life is, in fact, a maze!
Just like the maze, life is a journey...a journey towards reaching the destination...i.e. the finish line. Just that in the maze of life, the walls are so high, you can't peep or cheat in any way.

http://www.starwon.com.au/~cfrench/Maze.jpg

Sometimes, we make mistakes, and go the wrong directions that lead us to bad situations or just a simple dead end. Sadly to right that error (unlike simply starting a new line like we did in preschool), we've to turn back, (face the music) and head back to the main road that will deliver us to our exit.

If indeed, we forget the wrong turns that we've made, then we're doomed to take the wrong turns again. Its normal to take wrong routes in the maze, as it is through making these mistakes, we will, alas, reach our finish line. As Thomas Edison puts it ;

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. "

So, indeed, its true when they say ... all i need to know, I learnt in kindergarten.

Allah Madad!