Assuming that you have already dealt with the question of whether YOU are marriage material or not, the next logical step is to question whether HE is the right guy. When we are in love (and we often believe we are), we tend to ignore the other, more important, aspects of the relationship that will decide the future course of our lives. Conveniently, we stop evaluating our ‘guy’ on the marriage scale; perhaps because we are scared he may not fit the bill!

Just take the example of Trishla who married the wrong guy for all the wrong reasons. Besides good looks and an undeniable charm (that only worked when there were women around him), Vinay had little going for him. Trishla closed her eyes to everything and married Vinay. Now three years down the line, Trishla is a mother of two. She works as a secretary in a little known office. Vinay runs a photography studio that’s not really going great. In short, they have no money, no dreams and no prospects. He often hits her and pays the least attention to her needs. And Trishla is just 21!

Sounds like a Bollywood plot? It’s as real as every love story with a happy ending, gals. So how does one decide if a particular guy is “marriage material”? Read on to get a few pointers…

• Does He Listen To You? One of the surest ways to find out the worthiness of your guy in the marriage market is to test his attentiveness. If he is really attentive to you and cares for you, he is definitely worth it. But if he asks all the proper questions, but never really listens to the answers, he is no good. The ideal guy should be genuinely interested in you and your life.

• Does He Talk About The Future? Commitment is not an easy step for guys. If he is already thinking and talking about a future with you, he is already there. But if marriage or your future together is never talked about, chances are that he’s just not interested in making it long-term.

• Does He Respect You? If he is proud of you and truly respects you, you are lucky. But if he often runs you down with his criticism and tries to diminish your own self-worth, you should just kick him out of your life. For any relationship to be successful, the two people involved should have mutual respect and admiration.

• Is He A True Gentleman? One of the best ways to know is to see how he behaves with people below him in social rank. You check out his behavior with waiters at some restaurant, or the way he deal with his driver/peon/servant/bai etc. Is he as polite to them as he is to you? Or is he an altogether different person with them?

• Does He Respect Women? This one is difficult to really find out. That’s coz most guys are on their best behavior when with their girlfriends. So you’ll probably not catch him passing lewd comments or whistling or staring at women. But if you try hard enough, you can still get him to talk about how he views women. From his attitude towards women in general, you can judge what his attitude towards his wife will be.