Love, India, Marriage, Extra-marital affairs

I have been reading a book titled 'Answered Prayers' by Danielle Steel recently. It deals with two childhood friends meeting and finding solace with each other while both of them have a screwed up marriage. Faith, married to a super-busy and successful man wants to go to a law school as her daughters have grown up and have gone to college and she is out of her main job while her husband wants her to be his wife only and do some charity work. Brad married his college mate Pam who is again super successful and for her money is the only parameter to gauge success. Both Faith and Brad have been trapped in their marriages and there's no way out for them because both of them have seen broken relationships in their past and doesn't want to go through what their parents went through. Faith (till a few chapters of what I have read, don't know what it might turn out to be) had been faithful to her husband all these years, whereas Brad have had an extra-marital relationship with his secretary for two years.

Both of them at some point of time were in love with their partners but they grew distant because of their cold behavior, afterwards. This might be true for all the relationships where comes a time after a few years when interest of both the partners decline in each other and all they want is their basic need to be fulfilled by each other. Sex as well becomes monotonous and boring.

This might be a story set in New York, but both of them married the people they once thought would love them forever.

But the scenario is completely opposite in India. Here, people leave the love of their life just because of some stupid societal norms and parental pressure and marry some stranger. The decision of spending their whole life depends on that one meeting or, I may rather say, meeting of the parents. These strangers get married and then regret not marrying the one they loved, go back to them thinking if they could get some emotional support in their fake-broken marriages, get involved in an extra-marital affair, feel guilty and go back to their lawfully wedded partners. Great story, isn't it? We Indians always want the partner who had an EMA to go back to their wife or husband without even thinking of the third person who was involved in this matter as well.

Yes, I am talking about the ex-lover!

Who will think about them? Remember the ending of 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' where even though Nandini was in love with Sameer, she goes back to Viraj. I still think she should have stayed with Sameer. Not because I have some personal problem with Viraj or his character, infact I think he was a great guy, but because of my simple belief and question - How can you change what once you felt specifically for that particular person? You can't, right? So why did she leave the love of her life for whom she had crossed seven seas and goes back to her husband?

Are these ex-lovers of yours there to support you always and you - who had left them earlier as well to marry some stranger- have a right to leave them just because you are now feeling guilty of cheating on your wife/husband?

But what about the fact that you cheated them as well once and left them into ruins, all by themselves to see you getting away from them forever and getting hitched with someone else whereas you were supposed to  marry them? Do you think so that it's so damn easy for them as well to have you coming and leaving as per your need and convenience?

Oh c'mon! Why can't people just be more open about people they love and care about?
Why can't they just rise above the mindless rules of the world and once, just for once and think about what they want and follow their heart?

Is it so difficult to follow your heart?