Love In The Time Of Facebook
Open|October 5, 2015
Or: Love in the time of Facebook
Sonali Acharjee
Love In The Time Of Facebook

When she turned 22, Gauri Bajaj decided to stop fighting with her parents. She allowed them to scour the streets of Supaul, her hometown in Bihar, for a suitable groom. Six months later, she married 34-year-old Pankaj Tiwari, who taught yoga in Gurgaon and owned a one-room barsati in South Delhi’s Madangir neighbourhood. At first, she was busy planning the wedding, then busy packing her belongings, then busy unpacking her belongings in her new home and then busy adjusting to the sights and sounds of the big city. Finally, after she’d scheduled her first beauty facial, managed to rub off some of the “unsophisticated” glitter from her small-town kurtas and started tying her hair with a smart clip instead of a rubber band, she was ready to devote all her attention to getting to know her husband. However, he was nowhere to be found. “He used to leave the house every morning at 6 am and return only at 10 pm,” complains Bajaj, who was educated till Class 12 in Patna and had attended private English tuition to ‘up’ her profile in the marriage market. “He had no time for me at all. Even on the weekends, he would only sleep or practice yoga. I tried to join him but it was just so boring.”

It was boredom that led her to walk every evening to the nearby Saket malls and watch how Delhi partied, shopped, ate, drove, dressed, drank and most importantly stayed in touch. It was boredom that drove her to beg her husband for a phone because it would “help with time pass and everybody else had one”. And it was bore dom that prompted her to create her first Facebook account. “The wife of our kirana dukaan introduced me to it. She told me Facebook was safe and not like other websites where people could hurt you. She showed me how to post an update, put my location and upload a photograph,” says Gauri.

Esta historia es de la edición October 5, 2015 de Open.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición October 5, 2015 de Open.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE OPENVer todo
Can Therapy Break The Taboo Of Hypersexuality?
Open

Can Therapy Break The Taboo Of Hypersexuality?

Can therapy break the taboo of hypersexuality?

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 28, 2015
Afghanistan: Waiting For A New Life
Open

Afghanistan: Waiting For A New Life

Ravaged by war, terror and bad politics, Afghanistan is waiting for a new life after the withdrawal of American troops.

time-read
8 minutos  |
December 28, 2015
Grand Opening Of Dance Bars, Are The Girls Excited?
Open

Grand Opening Of Dance Bars, Are The Girls Excited?

Following a Supreme Court order, Mumbais dance bars are preparing for a grand opening. Are the girls equally excited?

time-read
10 minutos  |
December 21, 2015
Discovery Of Colonial India
Open

Discovery Of Colonial India

Lord Hastings 1814 journey from Calcutta to Punjab with painter Sita Ram is a discovery of Colonial India through lives mundane and magical.

time-read
8 minutos  |
December 21, 2015
Imtiaz Ali: Auteur In Love
Open

Imtiaz Ali: Auteur In Love

Imtiaz Ali's new film too is a celebration of desire and longing. The filmmaker in conversation with Divya Unny.

time-read
8 minutos  |
December 14, 2015
Athleisure, A Lifestyle Trend Of This Decade
Open

Athleisure, A Lifestyle Trend Of This Decade

As the defining lifestyle trend of this decade, athleisure has changed the way we dress, appear, move and feel.

time-read
9 minutos  |
January 18, 2016
Hate Wave In Communal India
Open

Hate Wave In Communal India

Provocative clerics, frenzied mobs and the widening fault lines of communal India.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
January 25, 2016
Delhi Government: Getting Even With The Odd Chief Minister
Open

Delhi Government: Getting Even With The Odd Chief Minister

A righteous Kejriwal makes the governance of Delhi all about one man’s whims and paranoia.

time-read
8 minutos  |
January 25, 2016
India’s Cricket Prodigies: Who Will Stay Like Tendulkar?
Open

India’s Cricket Prodigies: Who Will Stay Like Tendulkar?

India’s cricket prodigies today are luckier than their predecessors, but who will stay the distance like Tendulkar? 

time-read
7 minutos  |
January 25, 2016
Dating Apps: A Sexual Revolution
Open

Dating Apps: A Sexual Revolution

As the dating app sets up office in India, its first ever outside the US, Lhendup G Bhutia signs on to see what the fuss is all about. He comes out unwanted.

time-read
9 minutos  |
February 2, 2016