Everyone sets some kind of expectation from their future before tying the knot. They prepare themselves for the changes and adjustments they would have to go through beforehand. However, at times, a number of things are thrown at people that catch them off guard. Here are some people revealing some unexpected things they went through after having an arranged marriage.

1. “Sharing everything. Sudden loss of personal space. Figuring out schedules in the morning. Learning to be with a constant presence in the house whose opinion matters on every little decision you make. If your spouse is anything like mine, you’ll gain a best friend for life who will break you out of your shell, make you try new things, create opportunities for both of you to experience new things, will be brutally honest and accept your flaws and all. Ten years down we are a team who know each other’s habits and reactions and can work with and around each other.”

2. “My mother was from a very conservative family and it was a cultural shock to her that my father eats meat and drinks alcohol occasionally. And yeah, I’m really furious that he didn’t tell her. Who does that?”

3. “I had an arranged marriage a decade ago. I’m surprised by the fact that we’re best friends. We argue and fight. And at the end of it, one of us meekly goes over and says something stupid like, ‘hey you really sang well in the shower today’ and we’re back to being friends. Something that only happened when I was in the kindergarten and I just enjoy it.”

4. “Not me but my former landlord’s son’s wife. He (the son) despite trying hard was unable to find a suitable bride. When he finally settled at 34 with a young girl (25 at that time), his dad had a sigh of relief. But, here’s the catch. My landlord didn’t bother to reveal to the girl that his son is impotent. The girl and her parents got to know from somewhere else and all hell broke loose. The girl’s parents came and created a whole drama in their house. So much that all neighbours came on the street to enjoy the show. The guy soon got divorced from the girl. Fortunately for him, she didn’t demand any alimony. As of now, he is happily married to another woman.”

5. “I was rejected because I am bald. Then the girl’s father died of COVID. They came back with rishta and accepted me. I rejected her this time. Someone who loves you superficially needs to be cut off. Not worth it. Period. Not married, but I felt this needs to be told more often than it already is.”

6. “My friend had to deal with threats from his wife’s ex-lover to keep her happy.”

7. “Not me, rather someone I know through mutual. The guy pretends to be very well off and swimming in money when in reality they were barely scraping by, gave false information about business and stuff and surprisingly the girl’s family did not do too much digging. It seems that the guy’s agenda was based on the properties owned by the girl’s family – she is the only child so in future everything goes to him. Both parties were in a hurry to get the marriage done and here is the tragic kicker Turns out the girl was scamming the guy as well- she has a bunch of life-threatening illnesses which requires very expensive medical care and that was why they agreed to the marriage when they saw that the guy was rich and also no properties left on their end. It would have been a comic case of both parties scamming one another if it wasn’t so tragic.”

8. “My friend who had an arranged marriage had to deal with syphilis.”

9. “That I’ll fall in love with my husband. I liked him and respected him before marriage. I’ve never been in love before. So always assumed that it’s just not in books for me. He told me that he loved me a month before our marriage and I was sceptical kyunki aise kaise anyone will fall in love with me? I am a very average looking person who is overweight. And then when we started living together, first 2 weeks his family was there. After that we were alone and I started falling in love with him. It was not some grand gesture or anything I’ve read about or seen in movies. It was the little things that he did. Like, buy me chocolate after I said in passing that I like something in particular or taking care of me when I am not well and just being there to listen to me.”

10. “This happened to a friend of mine. Her family was looking for guys for her and finally found one dude who worked in a metro city and had a bit of property in his hometown. So, something was off since the beginning because I met the boy during their engagement and when I tried to initiate a conversation with him, he’d just turn his head away and answer. Fast forward to 6 months post marriage, we all meet at another friend’s wedding. Since I had a good rapport with the girl, I began teasing her and asking how the first night went. She kept smiling and saying that it was good, it was fine, and all. Later at the sangeet, she got a tad drunk and opened up to me. Apparently, the dude can’t get his thing up. When my friend tried to initiate things, he’d always put it off saying that he’s tired, he’s had a long day, etc. Finally, a month later she asked him to come clean. The dude tells her that he’s got a tight foreskin so he can’t get hard as it hurts. She tells him that circumcision would solve it. The dude is completely against the idea. Fast forward two years. Her in-laws have put her on ayurvedic fertility therapy as they believe that she’s infertile hence not bearing them a grandchild. My friend is too scared, to tell the truth.”

Now, you probably weren’t expecting that, were you?