Playing Safe

Us desis may have some good ideas about marriage being that we have in the business of marrying and arranging for it since Rig Vedic times but our well thumbed playbook does not pass muster the demands of the dating game.

Years ago, I picked up a copy of Rules from a box of paperbacks someone had put in the trash. The wisdom was main street and a regurgitation of all that self-styled relationship experts of the west had been saying for a while. The aggrandization of self had nothing to do with real self awareness.

There is a whole genre around rules for girls; Melissa Bank's hunting and fishing guide comes to mind. Likewise there are rules for men. It seems to be widely recognized that it is wild and lawless out there and rules can make life easier. But that is easier said than done. After all how often do banana republics make it to becoming fully functional democracies.

I had always been curious about the religious slant on dating and found it in reading Safe People. I was browsing through it at Lindsey's one evening and she lent it to me. My complete unfamiliarity with Christian philosophy makes it difficult to appreciate the Biblical references fully but that does not come in the way of being able to get the message. I don't know if I agree with the authors but using religion as a vehicle for their message makes it a lot more credible not to mention robust than sound bites from Rules steeped in the superficiality of pop culture.