00:00I'm Advocate Vandana Shyam.
00:06I'm India's top divorce lawyer and I just want to say that, you know, in my press release
00:13that I put out, I have given, I won't say I've given the reasons for the divorce, but
00:22I have said that, you know, it is insurmountable gaps between their personalities, et cetera,
00:28which have caused the breakdown of this marriage and, you know, it is a painful decision.
00:34It is, naturally, I'm taking your word for it, 29 years of suffering, you know, nobody
00:41comes to an end of this 29 years without putting in thought, without putting in a lot of pain
00:54in such a decision.
00:55So, let's see what happens next.
00:59See, 19 years, nowadays, you are saying that the marriage breaks in 1-2 years, but you
01:09will see that nowadays, actually, divorces are on the rise.
01:12So, when divorces are on the rise, so, you know, a divorce can happen at any stage.
01:18Nowadays, there is a trend, which has come to India as well, which is called grey divorces,
01:24that even after 15-20 years of marriage, your marriage can break.
01:29So, I will not use the word matbhed, but I can say that differences which arise in personalities
01:40can lead to the breakdown of a marriage.
01:43And you will see that we have spoken about an amicable divorce.
01:47We talk about not wanting to do acrimony, then we have given a joint statement.
01:58I will not say west, but I will say that nowadays, the world has become an international global world.
02:06Instagram is in America as well as in India.
02:09Facebook, Twitter, social media, social media has made a world without boundaries.
02:15So, is this a western trend, is this an Indian trend?
02:20I don't want to comment on that, but I want to say that yes, divorces are on the rise.
02:25Divorces are here to stay.
02:28I will see an example of divorces.
02:30You know, I had written an article for Huffington Post.
02:34You know, divorces are that sometimes houseguests come and sometimes they don't even leave your house.
02:40They sit there.
02:42So, divorces have become like that in India.
02:45Divorces are here, so you have to be a little prepared.
02:52The marriage that you are doing ahead, you have to be a little prepared that
02:57maybe my marriage can end in divorce.
03:02Because I have heard a lot about divorces.
03:05And I see it every day.
03:0710-15 years ago, when I used to go to the family court in Bandra,
03:10I used to see only 10-15 cases on the board.
03:15And now, sometimes there are 60-70 cases in a court.
03:20So, naturally, divorces have increased by 4-5 times.
03:25Divorces are here to stay.
03:27Now, excuse me.
03:29Whether you call it Western culture or Indian culture,
03:33but I think it is a global world that we are living in.
03:38Your information is flowing to me, whether it is from America, Norway, Sweden, England.
03:44Same way, Indian information is also.
03:46So, it is a very easy exchange of information.
03:50That is why divorces are on the rise.
03:57We haven't gone to the court yet.
03:59I can't comment on it now.
04:07I won't tell you when I approached,
04:09but whenever anyone comes to me for a divorce,
04:14the first question that comes to my mind is that
04:18another marriage is breaking.
04:21And what you see from above,
04:24maybe what goes on in your four walls,
04:27only those people who live in the four walls,
04:31only they know.
04:33And before every divorce, I think that
04:36I never thought it was like this.
04:38But the truth of what two individuals are going through or feeling
04:45is only known to them.
04:52Before every divorce, I always tell everyone
04:55to do counseling first.
04:57Try to save the marriage.
04:59I do it before every divorce.
05:02In fact, I always recommend that you do counseling
05:07and try to save the marriage.
05:09And I have said on many platforms that
05:12divorce should be your last option.
05:15And it should not be your first option.
05:17And more so in a country like India,
05:19because in India, we are a pro-marriage country.
05:23Weddings are one of the biggest businesses in India.
05:27And weddings are fun, weddings are good.
05:31So I tell everybody,
05:34weddings and marriages should be your first option.
05:37Divorce should be the last option.
05:39Try to make it work.
05:45I can't comment on that.
05:49I think the press statement that we have joined
05:52is a very detailed press statement.
05:58I have said that there are differences.
06:01There is an insurmountable gap.
06:03I have not written that.
06:05So I can't comment on that.
06:08And you know that I am a lawyer.
06:10I will not speak beyond that.
06:13And I have written that they have taken this decision from
06:18and they are experiencing a lot of pain in this decision.
06:22And they wished each other well.
06:24And they have taken this decision from a point of
06:27give us some privacy.
06:29So yes, they have also said that.
06:32That please accord some privacy to us.
06:35And as a lawyer, I am speaking on their behalf.
06:39You have not seen them giving out any other interviews.
06:43I am speaking on their behalf.
06:45So I represent them and I am speaking on their behalf.
06:53There is no such law in India.
07:01There is no such law in India.
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