Why is society labelling extra-marital affairs as forbidden love?: Ravinder Singh

Why does society label extra-marital affairs as forbidden love? the author asked the audience.

The book launch was hosted by Starmark, in association with Penguin Books India, at their South City Mall outlet, Kolkata.

Talking about the plot of the book, Ravinder Singh said, “There are different shades of love that are inherent in us. Attractions or getting attracted to someone is as natural as falling in love; one has rarely any control in monitoring one’s own fascinations, it happens innately.”

“But we have the tendency of subduing open marriages and initiating a process of extra-marital affair secretly, in the fear of becoming an outcast from the society. But our society has got no right to condemn those people as ‘anti-social animals’ just because they are holding an affair beyond the ritualistic social conventions,” he added.

“I am not pro-affair or against affair, but my point in this novel has been only to highlight those grey areas of the mind, where an attraction shapes naturally and a person can’t deal frankly with that, just because of the hollow rituals in which they are demarcated."

"In the title, 'This Love That Feels Right', by the word ‘This’ I meant the love that is forbidden,” he added.

Speaking about his two central characters in the novel, Naina and Malvika, he said, “Both Naina and Malvika are young women, married and in extra-marital relationships. Whereas Naina is guilty of her practice because she is deceiving her husband, Malvika is absolutely unbiased. In fact she is proud that she is honest and into an open marriage with her husband, where she can enjoy every extent of freedom.”

“But the only difference is where Naina is having an extra marital affair due to the outcome of need as she is deprived of love, Malvika believes that it is just one life and it is better to grab every bit of happiness and adventure from it. The ending of the book is all about a debate to the reader whether he/she is in favour of Naina or in favour of Malvika,” he said.

Asked about why he specifically chose women characters for his work on extra-marital relationships, Ravinder said, ”I purposefully chose women’s voices and rejected men to be a practitioner of holding affairs outside marriage because the patriarchal society has the inclination of categorizing men as ‘dogs’ and treating prostitution as a business with male clients.”

“But 21st century women enjoy economic freedom and the right to strive for equal rights with men, so I land up sensitizing with women’s emotions and their needs,” he said.

The book is priced at Rs. 175.

(Reporting by Aninnya Sarkar)