Making a Case for Singledom

I am now pushing the outer limits of what our society defines as being of a “marriageable age”. My friends who have grown up with me appear to be falling like nine pins all around me. As they fall, I see a number of these strong fellow dissenters turning conformists. At every given opportunity, on every given occasion, over every single drink, after every few sentences, these new born believers make all possible efforts to draw me into their ranks.

In no time have they moved from drawing up lists of potential downsides to sermonizing on the many apparent virtues. Non-acceptance and strong arguments against these sermons are now looked down upon as “poor” excuses of an unreasonably adamant mind.

And add to that mix a very strong portion of "concerned" relatives. If you dont get the picture yet... your possibly married...

But I refuse to be cowed down. I stand tall as a dissenter. And my rationale… Tim Harford has been able to articulate my thought process best in his book “The Logic of Life”, he writes:

“Imagine a young man who is thinking of trying a new drug. He knows that everybody who tries it loves it, at least at first. Then some users find their lives degenerate into an increasingly desperate and futile attempt to recapture the initial buzz, leading to the pain of cold turkey or the anguish of eternal, unfulfilling addiction. Others seem to enjoy the highs and remain quite content for the rest of their lives. He has no way of knowing into which category he will fall. Is it rational for him to ingest the drug?

Now, replace ‘drugs’ with ‘marriage’ and ‘quitting’ with ‘divorce’ in the above paragraph.

I am yet to know, with any degree of certainty, on the category that I belong to. And I am happy to wait patiently for enlightenment.

And while I wait, I am busy enjoying every minute of ignorance. I am free. Free to come and go as I please without having to answer to anyone. Meet, interact and love as many wonderful women as I can. Indulge in as many vices as my conscience allows.

Free from guilt and free from the sort of personal responsibility and accountability that, to me at least, appears to add little value. Free to put the most productive phase of my life to optimum use.

For those who make a case for the need for companionship in the long run - In the long run we are all dead. Why bother.

I am happy. I love my life mate… And I don’t do drugs :-)

My Blog Rules...

I have no idea on what I will write here... I don not know why I blog... I don't even know if I can write... write well that is. What I do know is that I need a release.

And that is probably all I will do. Vent.

It is possible that over a period of time, the content on the blog will automatically fall into some sort of pattern. But I will make no attempts to achieve that deliberately.

I also promise to refrain from making deliberate and concious efforts to think of topics to write on.

I don't know who will read this. It does not matter if no one does.

I don't know if I can write and contribute to the blog religiously. I don't think that I have the discipline to write regularly and I will make no efforts to make a disciplined effort to do so now. I will write only when I want to and when I feel like . And if I ever write again, I don’t claim that I may have something specific to write about.

This blog is likely to be a narcissistic effort at self indulgence.

I promise myself never to make a conscious effort to read, re-read and edit once I finish writing.

I will refrain from making any efforts to be politically correct.

I will express myself even if I am likely to hurt sentiments - even my own.

I will be spontaneous (if I ever write again).

I will not refrain from naming names

I will forever be incognito. Yes. I am a coward.

I will not claim that the rambling on this blog are opinions or statements that I have absolute and complete belief in. My opinions will change as the information that I have changes.

I will contradict myself. Across different blog entries and even within each blog entry

I do not claim that I will never plagarise.

I will, in all probability, never stick to the edicts that I have stated above.