It was 6 am on a brisk, Saturday morning as I snuck into the kitchen from the back door. My vision was obscured from dawn’s blackness. Out of nowhere, I heard the flick of a switch. After being temporarily blinded by the light, I open my eyes to my parents sitting in their bathrobes with their arms folded and looking very cross.

“Where were you last night?” my father shouted.

In an utter panic I immediately said, “I slept over at Keelan’s place after pulling an all-nighter prepping for the CPA exams.”

“You should have called or texted us, you moron”, my mother bellowed angrily.

“Yes”, my father added. “We looked like simpletons in front of Priya and her family last night. The plan was for you to finish your graduate class last night at Wharton, study, and come back home so we can all meet your future bride and parents-in-law.”

“Yeah, I know”, I responded as I rolled my eyes.

Instantly, my mother slapped me across my face and proceeded to scold me. “Rajveer, Rajveer. Have we taught you nothing about respect? You’re 23 years old and you have the gall to stand up your future wife? That is no way to treat a lady.”

“And I also work with Priya’s father-he’s a massive client for my IT business. You’re jeopardizing my chances of a potential merger”, my father added in his thick Indian accent. “What will I say to him when I see him tomorrow at work? I won’t be able to look him in the eye!”

“Right”, I replied unenthused. “Sorry. I’ll be more considerate from now on.”

The truth of the matter is that I was lying through my teeth. I was actually not sorry, in fact, far from it. Keelan is a friend and classmate of mine at the MBA program of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. However, he was merely an alibi for why I chose to skip meeting Priya and her parents for dinner. Now this entire quarrel, or lack thereof on my part, seems puzzling so I will do my very best to give as simple as a background I can possibly muster up as I try to wash off the redness from my face. In Indian culture, arranged marriages are often the norm for establishing the foundation of a family. It’s almost unheard of, especially in India, to marry for love. Priya just so happens to be the woman my parents set me up with. A Drexel alum and a future optometrist, my parents immediately thought she’d be the ideal wife for me, yet I’ve always believed that there were pushing this on me for themselves. After all, dad’s business ventures would profit greatly off of this, and my mom thought she was good enough to be a part of the Singh name in hopes of creating a wealthy and successful family to spread our influence throughout the Mercer and Bucks County areas. From everything I’ve watched on both American and Indian television, the concept of arranged marriages is just appalling to me. I do not care about the success of arranged marriages, as I simply cannot fathom being married off into another family and spending my life in bed with a complete stranger each and every night.

Instead, I have been doing what my parents would deem unthinkable: dating outside my culture. That’s right! I, Rajveer Singh, have been in an interracial relationship...for love. Her name was Claire, and she’s certainly not the type of girl my parents would approve of: Caucasian, fair-skinned, silky smooth brunette hair, and the most glistening blue eyes I’ve ever looked in to. An aspiring personal trainer hoping to acquire her certifications and currently a part-time Barista at Starbucks off of Nassau Street in Princeton, we’ve been together for four years. Not only would my mother and father disapprove of Claire, but they also did disapprove of her. After all, she was not a medical, engineering or business student, considered “too American” in the eyes of my parents, and she was not Indian. I was essentially forced to end the beautiful relationship I had with my love, so I did…or so my parents thought. Claire and I continued seeing each other, and have been living together as boyfriend and girlfriend in Princeton, NJ ever since graduating together from Johns Hopkins University.

As I was entranced by Memory Lane, my father stormed into my room as my mother looked on from a distance.

“I cannot believe how nonchalant you are about this entire fiasco”, my father scolded. “How dare you make us, and yourself, look bad? You have the chance to enter into a marriage with a successful woman, and both our families can benefit!”

I couldn’t afford to keep quiet about this matter anymore. I’ve been feeling a type of way that simply cannot be extinguished overnight. I’ve always been yielding to my parents in order to make them happy, but this was where enough was enough.

I leaped out of my bed, and asked, “Why are you so adamant on marrying me off to a total stranger?”

“We’re doing this for you”, my father replied.

“Doing what for me? Arranging a marriage for me without even asking I feel about it?

“How selfish! You will be married to a lovely and highly successful wife. Your children will grow up to be future doctors, and will be ensured a highly stable income. A place to come home to everyday where your wife will cook for you-what more could you possibly want?”

“LOVE”, I shouted without giving it a second’s thought.

“Love”, my father scoffed in his heavy accent. “What can love possibly do for you? It’s not important at all, not one bit.”

My mother finally chimed in and added, “You don’t need love to have a good marriage. All you need is children and a livable income.”

“If your marriage is so great, why are you two constantly arguing?”

“Hey”, my father exclaimed. “That is no way to address your parents in such a manner. We did not raise you to be disrespectful to your elders.”

An unsettling silence engulfed the room, with my parents glaring at me. I could not afford to be secretive anymore. I knew what I had to do. I took a long, deep breath and while looking down at the floor, I anxiously said, “I can’t marry Priya. I don’t want to. The truth is that I still love Claire.”

Another troubling quietness swept the air. I lifted my head up slowly, but only to encounter the anger seething from my parent’s faces. I expected another screaming match to follow, but my father took a moment to collect his thoughts.

“You either marry Priya or any other suitable Indian girl that we arrange for you”, he said, “or do not even bother coming back into this household.”

I began to feel sick to my stomach as my parents left my room. Love triumphs over all, but does that mean losing my family in the process? I am now faced with one of the hardest decisions I will ever have to make in my lifetime. Claire was the love of my life-my partner in crime, the raindrop to my drop top, the Michelle to my Barack, and she was a woman who was not only a keeper (and yes, that is a pun on her 4 year stint as an all-conference goalie at Hopkins), but also someone I may never have the chance to be with ever again. And yet, was she worth losing my family? Would staying by her side triumph over being disowned by my own parents, who sacrificed everything in order for me to live a prosperous life?

After five minutes, I approached my parents and said, “You are right. I am being stubborn and senseless. Marrying Priya would be a better option than marrying Claire. I don’t want to be fighting with you two anymore.”

My parents smiled.

“I am glad you have opened your eyes”, my father stated in his thick Indian accent.

“We will proceed with the preparations”, exclaimed my mother.

Hard to believe that all of this took place before Good Morning America airs, right? Throughout the rest day, I’m plagued with an uneasy feeling as a myriad of thoughts and emotions duke it out in my mind like a Texas steel cage death match. I proceeded to check my phone, and under “Missed Calls”, I find myself astonished to see that I had received 3 missed calls from Claire. Something was brewing in the forecast, and it certainly was not clear skies and sunshine. I raced over to my girlfriend’s apartment in Princeton, and upon entering I see tears streaming down from those beautiful blue eyes.

“Hey Claire, I saw that you tried calling me”, I stated. “What happened?”

She chucked one of her shoes at my face, with my nose being the unlucky recipient. “How could you?” she exclaims furiously.

“Ouch”, I yelped. “How could I what? What did I do?”

Claire whipped out her phone and, at full volume, played a recording of the heated argument I had with my parents earlier this morning.

One could not begin to fathom the immensity of shock and awe I was in at that very moment. My face was assaulted with a wave of redness as I begun to sweat profusely.

“How did you-?”

“Are you that dense that you can’t put two and two together, you moron?” Claire asked hysterically. “You accidently dialed me this morning while I was sleeping, and my voicemail recorded the entire conversation with your parents. I can’t believe you would do this to me!”

My face was met with another shoe hurled at my direction.

“It’s not-”, I said.

“So after 4 years together, you’re just going to sacrifice everything we’ve been through in order to marry some total stranger just to please your parents”, Claire asked. “Are you that spineless?”

“But I, it’s not, what I’m trying to say is…”

I just could not find the words to quell my girlfriend’s hysterical, shoe-driven rampage. The words of my parents echoed. She’s no good for you, you’re making the right choice, marry Priya or do not bother coming back here.

“4 years down the drain just like that”, Claire lamented while she covered her face with her hands. “We should’ve ended things between us back in college the moment I found out your parents didn’t approve of me and I-“

“STOP!” I shouted. However, I knew words would not ease the situation, so I did what my gut told me to do, and get ready to deal with the consequences that followed. I slowly took a step forward.

“What are-?”

What I was about to do next would be the one thing I never thought I’d have the courage to do…until now. I got on one knee, and the anger Claire was experiencing turned into shock and awe.

“I don’t want to marry Priya”, I said sincerely. “I only said ‘yes’ to appease my parents’ tirade.”

I took a deep breath, and went on to say, “But one good thing came out of this. Marriage was always on my mind, but I never wanted to get married off to someone against my will. I reserve the right to make that decision. And I couldn’t bear losing you and trading away everything we have. I’ve been wanting to ask you this one question for month but I never had the guts to do so.”

“Are you-?”

“Yes I am”, I replied slowly as I pulled out a ring from my back pocket. “Claire Renata Nicholson, would you give me the honor of making me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”

“I don’t know what to say…what about your parents?”

“I love my mom and dad, and it will hurt to not have them in my life. But it would hurt even more to lose you, the love of my life. I cannot imagine my life without you. I need you by my side because I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you as your husband.”

Claire was still sobbing, but with a choke in her voice, she responded, “Yes, you idiot. I will marry you.”

She jumped into my arms, and we kissed passionately. I knew from that very moment that I would be losing my family, and that pained me deeply. Despite all that, it was nothing compared to the immense happiness I would be starting a new family and adventure with Claire, my one true love.