Caste and age difference in relationship from Sri Lanka
I am 19 years old male from Sri Lanka. I am attending university and will graduate with BSc. Software engineering in 2016. My girlfriend is also from the same batch and we meet in university everyday. She is a year and half elder than me, and from different caste. I have never met her parents, but everything was fine and her parents were happy with us being together. Until, one day her mother said she found out I'm from a lower caste. I didn't know my caste until that day. Then her mother asked my girlfriend to forget about me, and they have been having arguments since then. On that same day, I told my mother about her, and she said to be friends until we finish studies. Later, I told my mother that her parents disapprove of me because of a caste difference. Then my mother got angry too, and she asked me to forget about my girlfriend because she's elder than me. Now we both are at trouble with our families. My mom says a girl must be always younger and below the male, and her mom says relatives will think bad of them if they find out my caste.
****** Truth be told, I researched into my caste and found nothing wrong with it. I do not believe in castes, but I must say that mine is simply different to theirs and not anything to be ashamed of. My parents are from different castes. My mother is the same caste as my girlfriends family, and my father is from a different caste. I also don't believe that such a small age difference should matter. And Women should have equal rights as men. My girlfriend holds the same views as me, and we both tried hard to convince our parents. At the moment, I am depressed and feel bad about being judged for my caste, also upset that my parents don't approve of my girlfriend. She too is feeling down, and we are not able to be happy anymore. Our studies aren't affected as such, because we continue to care for each other. But there's always this problem in our minds.* I also have trouble sleeping. Could you please advice ?
