Love Will Follow: Why The Indian Marriage Is Burning

by Shaifali Sandhya

• 800/0 of divorces are initiated by women.
• 940/0 of Indian couples say they are happy in their relationships but a majority of them say they would not marry the same person if they had a chance to replay their lives.
• 1/3rd of Indian couples say they are dissatisfied with their sex life.
• Most couples call the early years of their marriage the 'honeymoon years'. For Indian couples they are usually the worst.
The Indian marriage is burning. In this groundbreaking study-the first clinical and cultural portrait of its kind -Shaifali Sandhya explores the intimate lives of middle class Indian husbands and wives living in India and abroad and looks at what is causing this breakdown. Interviewing countless couples, using current research, and looking deeply at the key areas in relationships which cause conflict-sex, money, family-she draws a devastating picture of the modem Indian marriage. Hardhitting, eyeopening, and completely riveting, Love will Follow takes you into the hearts and minds of Indian men and women. Full of moving stories, fascinating statistics, and insights, it could change the way you see your relationship-and your life.

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jeya Anand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in 2010 before my marriage and then half read and shelved it as I do most of the uninteresting books. Now in 2018, after struggling in marriage for 5 years, this book caught my eyes and re-read it. And now was when I was meant to read. Time decides when one should read and finish a book.
It’s an eye opener to all the stupid things, we as Indians take pride in doing this silly thing called marriage and tradition and customs in a grandeur manner. This covers many fascinating statistics and real life stories to move the pages. And what makes a working marriage is where it ends.
Sometimes it’s like just plain fate, after reading everything. Because there are arranged marriages that have worked and crazy love marriages that have failed. So where do we stand?

[Piyush Verma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is this really a book? Merely binding a few pages with glue and thread and giving it a cardboard cover does not make it so. So is it really a book?
It read more like a final year Psychology report than a work of non-fiction. It does qualify as an account of what plagues the Indian marriage today but fails to rise above being precisely that, an account. It is a structured compilation of interviews, opinions and deductions, with lots of subjects, but no characters.

It is not entirely unfounded to expect works of non-fiction to invest in characters. They too tell stories - albeit real ones. In writing this book from a entirely diagnostic point of view, I think the author has erred in that the book fails to titillate the reader and evokes no empathy from him whatsoever. In trying to become simultaneously a 'book'-book and a psychology text, the author has truly fallen between two chairs.

[Aneesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a very accurate study of the internals dynamics of the Indian marriage. The author has captured different kinds of scenarios. However, when it comes to describing the working marriage, the book seems to lose the train of thought and go about in circles.

A must-read for all the married couples facing problems, parents pushing their children to get married and also people who want to understand how the Indian cultural and marital framework distinctly differs from anywhere else around the world.

[Manoj Kewalramani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful analysis of Indian attitudes towards marriage and relationships. A must read!