This summer concluded the list of all my girlfriends either getting married, engaged or 'mitho mo-ed' i.e. sweet mouthed.

I also noticed for the first time the number of aunties and uncles asking, "So Saimi when are you getting married?".

My flushed cheeks illustrated my shyness, when in fact it was sheer frustration.

I mean just because I've grown a few inches (OK centimetres) taller doesn't mean that I want to get married.

At first I thought that this was a view that only I held, but was surprised in the nicest way to discover so many more people in the same situation.

Unfortunately for you guys out there, if you don't want to get married then you get branded a 'gay' or a 'weirdo'; but for girls they get talked about as though they are mentally off the rails and in need of some of aunty-ji's help in matchmaking.

The reality is far from that and I wondered why because to us it seems perfectly normal.

Maybe it's the culture that we've been brought up in. Maybe its individual success that we seek first.

I suppose there are several reasons why people are getting married later rather than earlier. As far as I am concerned when I see something that I want and I am going to make sure that I get it i.e. the career with exclusive membership, the car with the Barabus extras, the house with an outdoor heated pool.

To some of you that probably sounds superficial and I'll probably have to settle for a house with a grotty pond, but what's wrong with ambition?

Like most of you, when my family came to this country they had nothing on them but £50 in my granddad's pocket and it is from their own ambition, perseverance and strength that I am here today.

I think some families expect to fend for their children up until they have children of their own.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, but I think its important to encourage your children to stand up on their own two feet. They will learn from their own mistakes...well most people do.

Look at it this way if they fall then the only way that they can go is up and then when they do stand - they will only stand twice as tall.

Saying all that I am now once more motivated to tell the next aunty who asks me when I'm getting married, that I'll get married when I damn well want to.

But then the last time I said that I thought I'd cut off poor granny's circulation. So maybe I'll play the role of 'distressed girl unable to find perfect match' for a little while longer!