Dowry System in India
The dowry system is an age old system and a peculiar phenomenon of the Indian society. It is, as today, a curse to the society.
Dowry is the name given to all that, the parents of a girl give to her when she gets married. At the face of it, the system seems quite appropriate, healthy and logical, for, in this simple way, the parents of the girl help her in setting a new home. So far, so good and, originally also the purpose of dowry was very justified and understandable.
Let us now analyze how and why this system took birth at all? In the earlier times of Indian society, the daughter had no share in the father's property so, by way of dowry the girl would get at least some portion of her share.
Besides this, in those days, the girls were not educated so, this dowry could serve the girl as a back up support system in case of any emergency after her marriage. Seeing this as the ground reality and the reason for the system for having taken birth, no right thinking people would call the system wrong or unjustified.
However, with the passage of time this same fine system has taken the ugly shape of begging for dowry, bargaining for dowry, auctioning the boy to the highest bidder and finally suicides. This is because, taking advantage of the system, the parents of the boys, have started demanding dowry.
This was never done in the original shape of the system. The girl's parents would give whatever they could and, there would be NO - yes, NO demands from the boy's side. Besides demanding items of dowry, now parents of the boy's family keep items of the dowry for their own use.
This was also not in the original system for, whatever was given was for the girl only - and never for the boy's family. These two additions in the original system have converted the blessing for the girl into a curse for her.
The parents who cannot afford to meet the demands of the boy's family are forced either into taking loans that they can never return, or use unfair means
Dowry is the name given to all that, the parents of a girl give to her when she gets married. At the face of it, the system seems quite appropriate, healthy and logical, for, in this simple way, the parents of the girl help her in setting a new home. So far, so good and, originally also the purpose of dowry was very justified and understandable.
Let us now analyze how and why this system took birth at all? In the earlier times of Indian society, the daughter had no share in the father's property so, by way of dowry the girl would get at least some portion of her share.
Besides this, in those days, the girls were not educated so, this dowry could serve the girl as a back up support system in case of any emergency after her marriage. Seeing this as the ground reality and the reason for the system for having taken birth, no right thinking people would call the system wrong or unjustified.
However, with the passage of time this same fine system has taken the ugly shape of begging for dowry, bargaining for dowry, auctioning the boy to the highest bidder and finally suicides. This is because, taking advantage of the system, the parents of the boys, have started demanding dowry.
This was never done in the original shape of the system. The girl's parents would give whatever they could and, there would be NO - yes, NO demands from the boy's side. Besides demanding items of dowry, now parents of the boy's family keep items of the dowry for their own use.
This was also not in the original system for, whatever was given was for the girl only - and never for the boy's family. These two additions in the original system have converted the blessing for the girl into a curse for her.
The parents who cannot afford to meet the demands of the boy's family are forced either into taking loans that they can never return, or use unfair means