that was a record of sorts.the favourable conjunction of planets on 28th november this year,about three weeks ago.astrologers and matchmakers in delhi went on overdrive.the scorecard-14,000 marriages.toi estimated that the average cost for each marrriage would be about 10 lakhs.which puts the total amount of money spent for the marriages at a staggering Rs 1400 crores.
should so much money be spent on marriages?.some say what is 10 lakhs when lakshmi mittal,subroto roy and the likes spend several crores.after all should we not stretch ourselves and put up our best show to our friends and society when our darling daughter is getting married.we are not showing off.we are only enjoying one day together with all our friends-khana,peena aur masti karna hai.begane shaadi me abdulla deevana!
this argument cannot be ignored.and after all all this expenditure finds its way to various sections of society:- caterers,stagesetters,phoolwallas,mehndiwalis,hairsetters,gana-bajana people,photographer,videowallah,so on and so forth.
and movies like hahk,ddlj,monsoon wedding have made marriages a spectator sport.
it is not that huge sums of money are spent in metropolitan cities alone.even in rural areas spending lavishly is de rigouer.it is ironic,given our income levels.but then izzat ka saval hai.beg,borrow or steal.
didn't somone say marry in hurry and repent in leisure.abhi shaadi hai aur phir barbaadi.
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3 comments:
you are so right about the spectacle part. again, delhi is the capital of spectacle when it comes to weddings. what is sad is that this puts pressure on other people of modest means and leads to plenty of unplesantness.
my household help's older sister got married just 5 months back, the poor girl has been sent back by her husband and in-laws, who are demanding among other stuff, a colour TV and a bike. the poor parents are helpless, they have two more daughters to marry off and can't afford even a bicycle let alone a bike!
yes,it is sad and very unfortunate.that such pressures keep coming.the solution lies in our coming out of our economic backwardness and achieving a higher level of education among the masses.with economic independence,i think,the woman is in a much better position to face such tribulations.
societal pressures must also be put on such troublemakers.the normal reaction is to shrug it off and say that is not my problem.therefore, it is a combination of factors-education,financial independence and change of attitudes which would ultimately bring about a transition.
i'm not very sure that education or prosperity has anything to do with this. if you look at this problem and also that of declining sex ratios you will see that it is the rich and the educated who perpetuate this problem the most.
i might be wrong but i feel it's something to do with our learning process. the more i look around me the more i'm convinced that people here are merely literate (even with MBAs and CAs etc) not really educated. education is when you practice what you learn, i think a large mass of kids are made to study without understanding the significance of what they are learning. the whole attitude is that of getting good grades. that's perhaps why there is so much unrest amongst our school kids.
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