Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Deja Vu

"Bharathi. Be ready. They could be here any moment." shouted Bharathi's mom Mrs. Durga.

They had done this whole thing a dozen times before and still every time she did this, she felt panicky. She wondered if at least this time it could end happily for all. Her thoughts were cut short by the arrival of the Blue Sedan outside their house. From the car Ramani's parents alighted followed by a beaming Ramani. Durga and her husband Mr. Krishna welcomed them into their 600x600 hallway. Ramani's parents sat on the couch for the couple even as Ramani sat on the single chair facing the 42 inch huge Philips HDTV. Durga could sense that the drama had just begun.

After 10 minutes Bharathi entered the hall with a silver dish with 5 cups of chicory coffee and sweets and savories which nobody would touch. Some things never change with time and perhaps this tradition was one among them. A bored Bharathi sat on the opposite single chair facing Ramani wondering what was going to happen.

"So all looks fine. I believe that the silence of the groom and bride seems to say that all is well and we can take the next step" said Ramani's father Mr RaviPrasad looking at his wife Mrs Raji. Whoever wrote that silence is a sign of acceptance may rot in hell thought Bharathi.

"Yes Sir. Please tell me what you expect from us." said Mr. Krishna as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Well. Apart from taking care of the marriage expenses, you would have to have to gift a car and flat on Ramani's name and they should be handed on the day of marriage. And I assume that you do have 250 sovereign gold in addition for marriage" said Mr. RaviPrasad.

He was talking to them as if they planted and grew money on the trees outside their house. But Mr. Krishna felt that this was better than the previous party which asked for 10 crores and 500 sovereign Gold. At that time he felt like killing them and dumping them on moon. But then there was little someone could do in these circumstances.

"Ok Sir. We are fine with it. We will get the date of the marriage and engagement fixed from our astrologer and call you soon." said Mr. Krishna looking at Mr. Ravi.

Durga could not believe herself. When she got married, she was allowed to enter the house only after her father got them a brand new car. It was a humiliating experience for Durga to see her father's lifetime savings go into thin air in a day's marriage.

She was sad and happy at the same time. Sad because all their savings would be spent on their son Bharathi's marriage and dowry to marry that girl Ramani. Happy because as a woman she felt that although the redemption was only financial and not emotional....at least there was one now.

P.S: Read this and wondered what if and why not.

17 comments:

Heidi Kris said...

It happens even now in Muslim countires, the guys have to give a lot of money to the girl to get married.

Inda madri oru nelamai namba India la varadhu, when the girls have seen, felt and undergone so much of pain in paying the dowry, they are not evil hearted to take the revenge!

Aditi said...

woohoo about time the tables were turned
but that having been said.. dowry is still a horrible insitution and should be abolished
but the story still made me smile

Kavitha Jay said...

hmmm..good one da..hate this dowry system....oh seri..nee orkut la irrukiya..i opened mine recently...appdi irrudhal sollu..will add u:)

Chris Benoit said...

ivangala ellam thiruthave mudiyadhu. But i still believe that the practice of dowry is coming down slowly.

Unknown said...

ivangala ellam thiruthave mudiyadhu. But i still believe that the practice of dowry is coming down slowly.

aprom andha female foetecide..haiyooooo paaavam! Idhu romba dangerous trendu!

Sat said...

aaha....hit on quite some topic this time!...seriously...the dowry thing doesn't make sense any more at all...indha voluntary dowry kodukura velayum koodathu!...after all more than half the girls these days earn just abt as much as the groom himself!...but the worst part is the amount being spent on the marriage itself. quite seriously, i guess indian marriages are the most extravagant if u see the kind of money tht goes into that one day. Some cases expenses are shared, some cases they're not, the bakra(read girl's parents) pays for it...but either cases what's the point?! the bride and groom are exhausted with all the unwanted rituals and greeting the guests (half of whom they dont even know) [whose side is tht one from...urs or mine???]...it's an utter waste if you ask me. rather take all tht money and blow it on a fancy car or a holiday abroad...now thts yummy and oh so materialistic ;)

KK said...

Playing with names :) Before the thing that you have said happens I need to get married :)
I second what Sat says. Both Dowry and extravagant marriages should not be done.

Nithya said...

Gr8 post...People have to start looking at marriage as sumthing beyond financial agreement/dealing ...After all, a marriage hall isn't a place where a person can flaunt his wealth (be it in the form of dowry or in the form of the marriage expenses itself) off to the other individuals around.

Celia said...

Its quite surprising.. To see that 90% of the guys on blog hate dowry system.

And 90% of the guys in India demand dowry... The math seems to have taken a beating somewhere.

Anonymous said...

And the irony is that the girl is happy and sad at the end of it :)
Nice post..

D LordLabak said...

A litle too much Saar. Men have gold rings and chains, when it comes to variety in gold ornaments. 50 sovereigns of these 2, imagine!

Priya said...

If men do not like dowry, why not stop their parents and the girls side too. If some people open up before crowd ther goes the message...

Anonymous said...

enna harish enaku proxy podalaya
:-)

Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said...

Well narrated..And nice thought ;)

The Boss (:D) said...

i so knew it! both bharathi n ramani being unisex names... i was wondering wen the names were being mentioned itself.. :D dowry, even the other way around, is not fair. but this is a good eduthukattu

Krithika said...

reminder-I also blog

Hip Grandma said...

That was a good way to end the story.I wonder if it will ever happen that way'Good thinking.keep it up.we need more like you.