Shelf life

Old habits die hard. Old school thoughts die harder.
Well, parents are real hard nuts to crack. Nuts they get too, once you touch upon a very sensitive topic. And this one is no funny matter, but yielded a funny conclusion, rather a closure to the entire discussion.
Marriage.
Well as it seems, wedding bells are going off everywhere about me. All those cousins of mine who've 'come of age' have had their marriages arranged. The elder ones I'm okay with. The younger ones getting hitched is a little troublesome to me now. Why? Because my insane dad's getting byper that his 22 year old daughter is aging fast, and losing 'shelf life' as he calls it. What the hell is shelf life!?!?Yes. I'm a product out of some human making factory who has an 'expiry date'.And is he that ill informed that someone with a health like mine can very well produce babies till the age of 40. ANd is that the ONLY motive in life. Get married and produce!?
Well that's why i expressed my concern to my mum,(the one who stands by MOST of my decisions.) And then in the course of the conversion, where my mum assured me that i wont get thrown out of the house in the name of marriage, i told my mother i dont want to have 'rishtas' recommended by other people (proposals from weirdos) coming to me. Instead, i told her i'd rather find my own soul mate, in the due course of time. Thats it. That pulled the trigger in her head, and she lost it. Steam escaped her ears and the tone of her voice heightened. 'So you'll find a non- muslim and stand at the door way, saying you'll get married??' She screamed shrilly. So much for open-minded-ness. She still believes she can find me a soul mate who'll be so totally right. BLAH!
Thank lord i have ONE individual who stands by ALL my thoughts. My brother intervened and TRIED all with all his might to convince mum, Islam SUPPORTS marriage outside the religion, well as long as the latter agrees to convert, as the probability of the person i may bring home COULD be a hindu/ something else.
But yet, it remained an issue to mum, she never consented.If one has to make a relationship work, one has to go through all the obstacles that come around. Nothing is all easy to obtain. She would'nt budge and broke down into those loud annoying sobs, bringing the aimless argument to a fruitless end.
Hence, i know for a fact that, whatever the future holds for me, life then wont be easy at all. And i have to go on very cautiously, think before i take a step. But can one think when something as absurd as love happens to them? Not in love i am not, not yet, but am so afraid to be. As they say though, Que sera sera.
Shelf life... haha... can you believe that!!