Maidens take over
Move over, intimate candle-lit dinners where the man goes down on one knee. With changing times, the tables have turned and our witty girls are proposing their love in packed stadiums
It’s not just men getting down on one knee, a Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fan Heta Shah, got down on one knee and proposed to her boyfriend during the team’s encounter with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Nail-biting cricket matches have become the ambience of choice for the young to propose to those they’ve given their hearts to — and what’s even more noteworthy is that gender stereotypes are being broken — girls are taking the initiative to ask men of their choice to marry them, in full public view on the stands.
Though the trend has been noticed for a little while now, the ongoing IPL matches seem to have set off a spate of marriage proposals.
At a Kokata Knight Riders (KKR) outing, a fan in the stands held aloft a placard saying ‘My mom has asked me to find a guy. So will you marry me, Shreyas Iyer?’
However, though the 27-year-old KKR captain and top order Team India batsman seems to have been given similar freedom of choice, his family doesn’t think it’s time for him to tie the knot.
“Obviously it will be a girl of Shreyas’ choice, but not at the moment,” says his father, Santosh Iyer. “Nothing for another two years,” he specifies, forcing prospective brides to put their dreams on hold! During the tense match, the girl pulled out a ring, went down on her knee and proposed to her boyfriend who was with her at the stadium.
THIS UNUSUAL TREND SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED, TO BREAK GENDER STEREOTYPES. WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY, IT SHOULD BE FINE FOR A WOMAN TO EXPRESS HER WISH TO MARRY THE MAN SHE LOVES.
— ANUSHEELA BRAHMACHARY, Sport psychologist and counsellor