The need to stand out pushes people towards such trends, but it won’t last

Ithink the pressure to get married works both ways - initially it is the society that puts it on you but after a certain age, I think a person needs companionship. Every age has a set pattern and when you reach a certain place in life, you do look for a partner to share your life with, unless you have really made up your mind and feel you will be happy by yourself.

As for sologamy, nowadays everybody has a materialistic approach towards weddings and their partners. They feel like if the person fulfils certain requirements, whether in terms of looks or thought process, it will make them happy. But you can never be certain, right? You should just go with the flow and look for what makes you happy, and not look at the whole process from society’s perspective. And when it comes to websites cashing in on sologamy, purely from a business perspective, I feel like the concept would be quite short-lived. Yes, people want to stand out and be noticed in this age of social media and when they are getting married, they want to do something different, so there is a market for such websites.

I have always been an advocate of social media, but I have also noticed this issue — everybody just wants to be acknowledged and prove themselves in public. This is where businesses cash in – the need for people to feel important.

But these people are really vulnerable, too. They just want to be happy for that moment and if they can’t get their happiness through a conventional marriage, they feel they will get it through marrying themselves. But I honestly think it is a very short-term concept and a business based on a fad. It would probably make you happy for a day or two.

Also, if you did it so that people would stop asking you, “when are you going to get married”, trust me they will return in a year or two, saying, “I thought it was just a stunt! When are you really going to get married?”

I have friends who said they never want to have children and everybody accepted that initially. But a few years down the line, the questions came back: “I didn’t think you were serious about this!” So, trust me, sologamy is not the answer. From Ms Mahnaaz Shaikh Owner of a marketing consultancy living in Dubai