In India, marriage is considered to be ‘sacred’ and ending it means committing the biggest blasphemy. Families say, ‘fix it’, ‘or just live with it’ because ‘only death can do you apart’. But couples believe it is better to part ways than staying in an unhappy marriage. Malaika Arora Khan and Arbaaz Khan too took this difficult decision of their lives, despite their families asking them time and again if they are sure about the divorce, to end their 18 years of marital life. And in the parents’ divorce, it is the kids who become the part and parcel of it. In their situation, it was Arbaaz and Malaika’s son, Arhaan Khan. (Also Read: Malaika Arora Talks About Life After Divorce, Says 'A women Should Swipe Left, Right, Have Fun')
On Kareena Kapoor Khan’s radio talk show, What Women Want, Malaika Arora spoke candidly about how her family supported her through the divorce and how she believes that a child should grow in a happy environment. Making an introduction, Kareena had said, “Yeh woh word hai jo aaj bhi hum dinner table par discuss karne se darte hai.” After remaining silent about the reasons behind their divorce, Malaika broke her silence over the split and how she really felt about it, on Kareena’s show.
Speaking about how their ‘unhappy’ relationship impacted everyone around them, Malaika Arora stated, “We were just two people in a situation where we were making each other extremely unhappy, which was impacting everyone else’s life around us.” Revealing how her son, Arhaan reacted on his parents’ divorce, Malaika said that with time he has become far more accepting and flourishing. And he can also see the difference in his parents how happy they both look now.
Malaika Arora recalled how her son, Arhaan told her once that "Mom, you look happy", a few months after their divorce. When asked for the best advice that she received upon arriving at the decision of ending her marriage, the Chaiyya Chaiyya star replied, “If this is the decision that you’re making, then we are really proud of you and in our eyes you are a really strong woman… this is what gave me the extra strength that I needed. If you are in an unhappy marriage and that’s what you decide to do you should do it with a lot of dignity, self-respect. Don’t let anybody tell you that you are any less of a woman.”
Sharing a piece of advice for women, who are unhappy in their marriages, Malaika Arora remarked, “Don’t let anybody bring you down or tell you that you are any less of a person or a woman, just make sure that you’re a strong, wonderful woman.” (Also Read: Saif Ali Khan Reveals How Taimur Ali Khan Reacts When He Dims Lights In The Evening)
Speaking about the stigma attached with divorce, Malaika Arora shared, “A woman getting looks upon getting divorced is bound to happen, ki, ‘Oh God, she’s a girl that you know…who got divorced or whatever.’ That is like the biggest disparity that there is amongst the many other disparities that you have to deal with.”
Talking positively about the topic of finding love after divorce, Malaika was quoted as saying, “I think all women should jump back into it with equal gusto. Have fun, enjoy it. I think for the first time in your life, you’ll also kind of discover a sense of freedom.”
Reminiscing the night before her divorce, Malaika recalled how everyone reacted, “Even the night before I got divorced, I had my family sit with me and ask me yet again, 'Are you sure? Are you 100 percent about your decision?' So I think that was something I heard all along and rightly so. These are the people who worry and care so they will definitely say that.”
Speaking of how men and women are treated differently after divorce, Malaika had shared, “It’s the biggest disparity there is among all the other disparities there are which women have to face. And I'm not going to sit down and do man-bashing but yes, it is very easy for a man to move on in his life. It’s never easy. As humans, we start to blame other people. But for me, happiness is the most important. Arbaaz and I weighed pros and cons, we thought about a lot of things and then arrived at that decision. We just realised we’ll be better people because together we were just making each other and everybody around us really unhappy.” (Also Read: Kareena Kapoor Khan And Saif Ali Khan Don't Want To Cover Taimur Ali Khan's Face In Public)
Malaika Arora is an inspiration to all the women out there, be it in personal life, professionally or for her fitness!