Have heard a lot about how life gets tough after marriage and how things change and the compromises we have to make, etc etc. For a while this did scare me like most people, I am sure, but once you have taken the plunge there anyways is no looking back... the sounds of "tujhe ab pata chalega" "aazadi khatam" and all such dialogues reverbrating in my mind I jumped into Matrimony. It is 6 years now with 2 year old BG twins and we do have our differences and there are a lot if them coz we come from different cultures, have lived very different lives and are totally opposite people! Like any two people living under one roof, please note I am not intentionally saying any other couple coz we do have our occasional tiffs with people we live with irrespective of whether they are our parents, sibblings, roomies or kids, we have our odd fights which is very necessary! The first thing that hit me was the utter distrust that people around me had about my skills to live in a marriage... survived so far without any damage to my partner ;)... the other part was about being happy in a marriage, maybe We married at 40 and that is by Indian standards 'tooo late' to start a life together. And the reason we understood was coz we are too set in our ideas and ways of living to adjust... we however have done pretty well till now! Happiness is a state of mind and building that into any relationship is dependant on what you bring to the table yourself before the word 'expectation'! There are compromises you make but that is a general phenomenon in life not really connected to the institution of marriage... from skipping a late night party in your teens coz Parents did not approve to keeping shut when someone at work stole your credit are all compromises! Why single out the institution of marriage? I percieve compromise as a very strong word. For me it is about shortcharging your principles n objectives in life. Never compromise on what your want in your lifepartner just coz the world thinks you should be married at 25! This is that man/ woman you are going to spend the rest of your life with, this is that person who will parent your baby and this is that one person who should be your BFF! And this definitely is that one person who can turn your life into heaven or hell... and if you are an Indian, you includes your family! Life does change and though there are adjustments and adaptations involved, it changes to become fuller and more complete. If logically none of the above made sense then let us rethink and start from the begining coz basic mein rada hai tho solid panga hai! I often use the phrase that, "Everything in life comes with a price-tag that you should be willing to pay"... sounds like pure gyan but sit aside and roll this in your head and you will not agree more with me! In context to marriage it means letting go of the small things and changing the small things within us that irks the other... there is no ego in this relationship and if it exists you heading for disaster, trust me! My husband Rakesh in his maturity has done much more for the relationship than I have and I do try to acknowledge it in my little ways. There will always be one partner who gives a little more to the relationship and appreciating them for it really does not hurt! It strengthens the relationship... Respect for each other and total honesty is all that spells SUCCESS... To sum this all, marriage is great and seriously all these jokes on spouses are designed by people who sadly understand nothing about relatioships or are just trying a hand at humour!