In our culture, there are several evils. One of them is the dowry system.
It has now become an issue. At least one female member exists in almost every household. As a result, most families suffer due to the dowry system atleast once. A female from India is not like a girl from the West. She is unable to choose her spouse. His union is a significant operation. On the marriage market, girls are bought and sold. The better the boy, the higher the fee.
The dowry system has a long and illustrious history. The son owns a piece of the parents’ land. The daughter should be given a piece of the pie as well. However, when she marries, her parents offer a dowry in the hopes of finding her a nice spouse. They wish to provide happiness to her life through dowry. However, dowry has taken a bad turn. Money has a significant role in marriage.
Consequences of dowry-
One of the most heinous aspects of the dowry system is that if a girl brings less money, her in-family laws would harass her. In such case, many people even take their own lives. For this season, three females in Kanpur and three in Delhi hung themselves. In Delhi alone, dowry deaths occur daily. In remote places, such fatalities are never recorded.
Another unfortunate aspect of this tradition is that many good individuals turn corrupt to provide for their daughters. They accept bribes, and engage in unethical commercial practices. This additional income is not taxed. It is unknown that it causes inflation in the country. It is estimated that dowry is responsible for 50% of the illicit money in the north.
Great evil-
The dowry system is a major social blight. The birth of a daughter in the family is a sorrowful event. The dowry system is to blame for everything. The young lady must be married off. Every parent desires for his or her daughter to have a happy married life. However, the higher the dowry, the better the boy’s family.
The girl’s father is subjected to a barrage of insults. He is being pressed to spend more and more money. Since the birth of his daughter, he has been saving paisa by paisa. The marriage market, on the other hand, is booming. He may have to take out loans or sell his property. Such are the tribulations of a girl’s parennts. When the boy’s expectations aren’t met, the female is frequently the one who suffers.
Dowry:
The practice of dowry has transcended caste lines and extended throughout society. Even though there is clear legislation against dowry, it is not enforced in the same manner as the rule prohibiting child marriage is not enforced. In 1987, a minister from the governing party gave the groom things worth crores of rupees as dowry. The groom was another former minister’s son. Both come from noble families.
Laws governing dowry should be strictly enforced and serve as a deterrent to the practice. Every family and every individual is equally responsible for bride burning or beating must be rewarded in the same coin at a public occasion.
If the limits were adequately enforced, individuals would be discouraged from exploiting the dowry system. NGOs and women’s organizations should also work to improve the lives of people who have been injured as a result of this practice. Choosing an intercaste marriage will also assist to reduce the use of dowry.
Dowry is a common tradition in modern India, and it can take the form of a payment of cash or gifts from the bride’s family to the bridegroom’s family upon their marriage. The incidence of the dowry varies by location and social status. Dowry participation is more common in northern states across all groups, and dowry is more likely to come in the form of tangible and moveable possessions.
Bride prices are more common in the south, and they are more commonly in the form of land or other legacy goods. This system is linked to marriage’s social framework, which maintains marriage inside or near to family ties.
When dowry first developed during the Vedic period, it was mainly used by the upper classes to aid the bride, who could not inherit property under Hindu law. To compensate, the bride’s family gave the groom a dowry that was registered in the bride’s name. This dowry was regarded as Streedan (Sanskrit: property of a lady). In addition, although the upper castes used dowry to compensate her family for the loss of revenue, the lower castes utilized bride price to reimburse her family for the loss of money.
The notion of dowry has altered in the current day, and Indian households no longer follow the original Vedic dowry system. This is because the bride price steadily faded away over time, and dowry became the most common means of transfer. Dowry is a modern-day custom that compels the bride’s family to transfer items to the groom’s family in exchange for the marriage.
Marriages in India are often expensive since they are occasions for large family festivities. As a result, Indian weddings are notorious for their high costs and accompanying bridal gifts from both sides of the family. This is a common and unrestricted cost that varies from family to family based on finances, position, and other considerations.
Many times, as part of this reciprocal ‘give-and-take,’ the groom’s family would try to dictate the amount of each present as well as particular dowry expectations.
Conclusion-
As we approach the new millennium, we, as Indian citizens, must seek to put an end to this heinous practice. Dowry is a blemish on the country’s otherwise sparkling face. The old, on the other hand, cannot do away with it. It is only possible for the younger generation to do so.
Edited by Anupama Roy
