If you’re on social media, because well for most of us it is how we spend most of our days, you must have seen that there seems to be a rise in the number of people, especially celebrities, who are separating and filing for divorce.

Divorce is a personal decision, and while celebrities may share that part of their lives with us, they (or any couple, for that matter) do not owe us an explanation of why they decided to undertake this decision. 

However, a large part of the society seems to think of divorce as a ‘trend’. Because of course, people, especially celebrities, are in need of ‘following a trend’ and gaining attention!

So if you are as ‘curious’ as the people posting these comments and are actually wondering why divorce has become a ‘trend’, well here’s the answer. 

It’s because it’s a choice and people are exercising it! Because people are putting themselves first, and not compromising to make a flawed society feel better with a fake front of happiness and marital bliss. 

Society would rather have people be miserable in marriages they have outgrown, than see them break a marriage for the sake of their mental health and the happiness of all involved, especially children. 

Forced marriages don’t make happy parents. Happy individuals become happy parents/co-parents. 

Couples like Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen Sharma, Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia, Hrithik Roshan and Sussane Khan are the perfect examples of what successful co-parenting looks like.

People are realizing that you can have a child’s best interest at heart but still look after your happiness and not sacrifice yourself at the altar of unified parenthood (a concept unduly romanticized by movies, TV shows, and of course, society). 

Divorce is simply the end of a marriage. It does not mean the end of love and happiness. Rather it may actually be the start of it for a lot of people. 

Like Farhan Akhtar, who after separating from his wife Adhuna, fell in love with Shibani Dandekar. 

Or Malaika Arora, who not only redefines life in your 40s, but who also found love and companionship with Arjun Kapoor. 

From Malaika Arora’s Instagram story

Divorce also does not always leave people embittered about their exes. People who have the maturity and awareness to understand this, are people who continue to be friends with their exes, even after signing the dotted line on a divorce paper. 

Like Anurag Kashyap and Kalki Koechlin, who’ve continued to stand by each other’s side, long after their marriage ended. 

Or Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan who continue to celebrate festivals together, enjoy on the sets of their films, and raise their son, Azad. 

To people who, even in today’s time and age, are looking at divorce as a ‘trend’, let us remind you that it is indeed 2022. And divorce is not unsanskaari, people are just more aware and less likely to succumb to societal pressure and uphold unhappy marriages. 

Perhaps people are right. It is the ‘season of divorces’. Hell, why stop at just season? Let it be the year, or even the era of divorces. 

Because people don’t take something like divorce lightly. People who decide to separate after years of being together, don’t do so on a whim. But if, and when, a couple feels that divorce is the answer, then society needs to accept that and not interfere. 

Divorce simply means a step in the right direction. A step towards choosing happiness. And that, is always something to celebrate!