22F 22M Need advice for my friend — stuck between love, family and marriage
Hi everyone, I’m posting this on behalf of a friend.
My friend is a 22-year-old Muslim girl in love with a 22-year-old Hindu boy. Both are B.Tech graduates working in IT. In another 2–3 months they’ll have around 1 year of experience. The boy works in an MNC and is currently earning a fresher-level package. My friend earns around ₹1.5 LPA more than him annually.
They both know that an interfaith marriage could be very complicated, so they had decided that maybe their relationship wouldn't work out. But they still love each other and can't seem to move on.
Meanwhile, her parents have started looking for grooms. They found a 27yr man who somewhat rich, works in an MNC and earns around ₹7 LPA. It's a good match on paper, but my friend is only 22 and feels she is far too young to get married.
Her parents are insisting that she marry soon. Her father has diabetes and says he wants to see her married while he is still around, and worries that they may not find a good match later. They aren't even willing to give her one year of time as she asked them for cracking GATE to do mtech.
She is terrified of telling them about the boy because she knows they may strongly oppose an interfaith relationship. At the same time, she doesn't want to hurt her parents or make them feel that all their hopes are ruined.
She is extremely stressed and sometimes can't sleep because she feels like she has to choose between her parents and her own happiness.
What should she do?
How can she convince her parents to give her at least 2–3 years before marriage? Should she tell them about the boy now(but she is so terrified and says how can she grab the courage to do so), or first try to convince them that she simply isn't ready for marriage(they say no need you to earn money if they are already good,leave all these and marry)?
Would really appreciate advice from people who have faced something similar. Please be kind—she is genuinely struggling and doesn't know what the right decision is.