You grew up fighting like cats and dogs, much to your parents continued horror. You cringed in horror the day she was old enough to fit into your clothes and shoes! That she wore your jeans (on the sly) was always valid reason for you rail and rant for days. But there is an unwritten pact between sisters. You could offer her the choicest abuses, but no one else dared say a word against her! With her first crushes, low grades, bitchy relatives and hidden insecurities were things to be dissected openly. At times, you both shared the burden of your parents’ ever-increasing eccentricities. But then one of you went and got married. And that marked the beginning of yet another chapter in your dynamic love- hate relationship.
Following changes occur when one of you get married:
Younger sisters get temporary happiness:
Keeping with spirit of the younger sister’s brigade, my sister jumped with excitement when the date of my marriage was fixed. For her it means new cloths, lots of fun, party and all. It meant that my cupboard would be hers for highjack and she could pick and choose from my erstwhile wardrobe: fringe benefits which contributed to her initial jubilation. After 18 years of being my roommate, she couldn’t wait to start living alone, as a sole occupant of ‘our’ room. And there I had been, expecting mushy farewell interspersed with selfless gestures. But surprisingly, this initial euphoria is short lived. Most often sisters- even without realizing it-b are the anchors of each other’s lives, helping each other take day-to-day decisions and overcome minor setbacks. Of course, you hardly noticed plus points when she was driving you nuts all hours of the day and night. After all it’s not that you don’t want to share
Marriage creates the physical distance :
The physical distance that a marriage creates does take a minor toll on the relationship. While the newly married sisters find her an alien set-up getting settled the younger one left behind in the familiar set-up feels the vacuum. Anurita gupta, a third year student at Delhi university, recalls, “didi was busy with her new life- setting up the house, bonding with jiju and his family, getting settled into her new job posts marriage. I was living in the same house without her. There would be so many things I would forget to share when she spoke on the phone. I couldn’t keep her informed of everything going on in my life; it all seemed a bit disconnected. There was nobody to interfere in my life, nobody to fight with me. My greatest fantasy turned into a nightmare. After she left, I realized how important she was in my life.” For the married sister, coping with in-laws with the intention of not letting your side down becomes slightly taxing at times. That’s when you miss your sister’s unconditional affection. She was a person you could shout at, snub, or just not talk to with the guarantee that she would not take it to heart- at least not in long term.
After marriage, you get Willy nilly into so much new relationship that you also start valuing relationships. Being in a new set up where people do tend to judge you, one misses the unconditional love that siblings shower on each other. And then are certain things you can share only with your sister. 
Married sisters start giving more attention to her in-laws:
Sure, there are times when you are so engrossed nurturing new relationships that you take old ones for granted. Sure, you want to call sis back home. But mum in-law calling always get priority. And of course, even at home, parents, especially mothers, fuss over a newly married couple. Suddenly, younger sis-until now the baby of the house, the pampered one- faces a crises of attention. After marriage, even, it took almost year to get things back to normal with my sister. “I was married in the same city, but still the interaction between us was not the same as earlier. While pre-marriage weekends meant catching up on movies, going shopping and just chilling at home, post marriage, most of my weekends would be spend with my husband. She understood this but she also resented it initially.”
After marriage sisters become close at heart but the physical distance between them increases:
But besides creating minor ripples, distance does make the heart grow founder. The effect is two fold. First, the physical distance reduces the chances of direct interaction, which makes the siblings miss each other. Second, they need to keep in touch to share the problems one of them is experiencing, which they can share at times only with siblings and not with the in-laws or parents. So this support system is only strengthened.
 After 14 months of marriage, I find myself closer to my sister than ever before. Earlier we would fight constantly, but now that I hardly get o spend time with her, I realize how important she is to me. I feel so protective towards her, so responsible. I sometimes laugh at the memories of how I would sulk for hours at having to share my clothes with her, now I want to indulge her; she’s my best friend, my confidant. After my own marriage, I discovered that my pampered, somewhat spoiled kid sister had transformed into something just short of an angel for me. We shocked our parents by not fighting even once for seven days when she came visiting the first time after my marriage. On the eighth day, of course we had a slight confrontation that made us heave a sigh of relief and hug each other in delight. Things were better, but nevertheless back to normal.