Indian author to talk on rising divorce rates

Muscat: The divorce rate in India, especially in the bigger cities, is increasing rapidly in spite of a longer judicial procedure, according to Vandana Shah, a leading social activist, UN peace delegate and author of a humorous book on divorce.

Shah is in Muscat, at the invitation of the Indian Embassy, to talk about her support group for divorcees in India and her book, '360 Degrees - Back to Life - A Litigant's Humorous Perspective on Divorce'.

"My interaction tomorrow with the audience will not be on how to thrash out a marriage, it will be more on how to cope with divorce," said Shah, while addressing a press conference at the Indian mission yesterday.

She stressed although the divorce rate was increasing in India, it still remains a stigma in society.

"Therefore, we as a support group, help divorcees cope with the stigma."

Shah also said that as a support group they make divorcees aware of their rights.

"My case is still pending after six years," she said, adding that what was her fight has transcended into helping the world at large.

Although Shah is fighting a divorce case she stressed that marriage is here to stay. "No one enters into a relationship to separate."

In reply to a question on divorce cases among the Indian diaspora in Oman, Anil Wadhwa, the Indian ambassador to Oman, said: "We rarely get such requests here."