Sadia Imam's key to a perfect marriage

Actor recommends patience and sacrificing ego

As someone who tied the knot twelve years ago, mother-of-one and happily married actor Sadia Imam has her own traditional tips for a successful marriage. In a recent interview on a local morning show, Sadia spoke about the importance of compromise by both parties if a relationship is to thrive.

"I'll never forget something that my father told me when I was getting married," she recalled. "He said to me, 'After marriage, you need to be a wife. Everyone knows you are Sadia Imam, but now that you are getting married, go forward in your relationship as Sadia.'"

The subtext is clear: whilst Sadia may have been a television actor at the time of her marriage, she needed to sacrifice some of her ego and shed her acting persona if she was to sustain a happy marriage. According to Sadia, this piece of advice applies to any woman who has a thriving career in any field before marriage, and not just someone in showbiz.

As a seasoned married woman, Sadia's other piece of advice is to employ a well of patience when dealing with spouses coupled with some underhanded tactics.

"I used to think that it was important to speak my mind immediately, but I later realised it was wrong," she admitted. "I figured out later that I needed to know when he is ready to listen, otherwise I was just wasting my time. Now when I want something done, I just state my piece and then leave it. I don't ask him what he thinks. Later on when he brings it up, I just ask him what he thinks, and when he ends up going along with it, he thinks it has always been his own idea!"

Sadia's message serves as a reminder that as in a chess game, getting your way with a life partner requires time and patience.