A refrigerator, an automatic washing machine, a mixer-grinder, substantial gold jewelry, possibly some cash contribution for the sparkling new apartment, may be a car, king size treatment for all the bridegroom’s guests and relatives, etc. Year after year, the bride’s family has solemnly adjusted to endless list of demands, often toppling the budgets, overshooting capabilities and ending the girl’s family at a juncture of perpetual bankruptcy. Yet we abide and diligently follow the rituals of ‘The great Indian Dowry’. And what for? To marry off a perfectly healthy, well educated, sufficiently established, beautiful daughter. Well, since when did such qualities turn so damn worthless that one needs to actually pay bribes and money to sell off a daughter from the family under the fancy name of “Marriage”.
Might as well pass on a few packets of Viagra to the guy along with the other gifts, because a guy who is so incapable of even starting a new life, without shamelessly demanding mammoth donations from the father-in-law might not be man enough to start putting his shriveled up manhood to any use other than peeing out, unless medically aided with a few shots of Viagra.
As we boast of stepping ahead into a modern era influenced by the broad minded western vibes, the country still reels under the perils of dowry, bridal tortures and physical traumas. Educated at the same school, furnished with same degrees, placed at equally prospective companies and earning similar pay checks, why would a girl accept the age old malpractices of Dowry, etc and face humiliation just because she is a girl. How does it even matter if you are biologically designed to be a woman? And what’s so special about the spineless bridegroom, who considers the art of asking for donations and dowry to be a deed of machismo and superiority. What makes him superior? Is it because he is taller by a few foot , flaunts some disproportionate muscles , a slight beer belly and has that things between his legs , which might have got stuck in-between the trouser zippers when he was a kid while the little boy cried a bucket his poor heart out. Well, so the differences are primarily on anatomical grounds. In that case, even a beautiful girl should have similar rights to demand dowry, in case she settles down with a person not as handsome or less qualified. Why is the privilege of inappropriate claims restricted only to the male kingdom?
Its time our dear parents, critically worried about the young unmarried girl at home, realize that, a girl, is not exactly a piece of retail commodity. The very idea of educating oneself is to develop a sense of reasoning between good and bad, rational and irrational, justified and unjustified. So with several years of hard work invested to pay for the daughter’s MBA course, its lame and stupid to hurriedly marry her off to a person who decides to kick start a lifelong relations in exchange of a washing machine and microwave. I am sure she could have done better. And why should she even care? Wait for a while and get yourself a guy who appreciates your beauty, education, job, aspirations, smartness and attitude. The world isn’t coming to an end any time soon. At least the dooms day would wait until all our political leaders are finally settled in Tihar jail and the cabinet meetings could be held out of Tihar instead of Parliament house.
Surprising enough , parents who had been so damn strict about rules and restrictions imposed on the lady during her early days , suddenly looses all the prowess and falls silence, when their sweetheart girl is tormented with Dowry owes followed by household torture. The socially active parents, fear the consequences of social stigma if the heart numbing stories of their little girl’s fallen state, gets public. Well, aren’t parents expected to stand strong guarding their children? Aren’t they supposed to back their girl up instead of paying any heed to social stigma? Isn’t their child’s happiness supposed to be of utmost importance, than what the damn society has to say? Dowry horrors aren’t something to be “Adjusted” with, leaving the poor girl in the midst the some cash hungry in-laws, gifting her life of pain and ruins. Marriage isn’t a business deal to be negotiated and adjusted with. It’s a lifelong innings, involving a lot of dreams, plans and memories.
