Over the years, your support has made Women’s Web the leading resource for women in India. Now, it is our turn to ask, how can we make this even more useful for you? Please take our short 5 minute questionnaire – your feedback is important to us!
My sister spoke up when her marriage was being fixed with a groom whose family was asking for a dowry. We need to speak up and be the change we want to see.
“You just book the flat, I’ll speak to the groom’s family. They shall be ready for the marriage,” said the person over the phone.
“But my daughter is against this, she will not accept it,” said my mother.
“Bhabhiji what has she got to do with all this? She is the bride, you are her parent. You know dowry is a custom,” he replied back.
My 25 year old unmarried sister who was an Orthopedic doctor heard this conversation. She immediately took the phone from my mother and disconnected the call, and looked at my mother.
My mother asked her, “Why did you cut the call? What’s wrong with you?”
My sister asked, “Something is wrong with me? What do I look to you? Am I a commodity? A burden for you?”
“Are you mad? You’re my daughter! You are perfect, there is nothing wrong about you my child. I am just concerned about your future,” my mother replied.
With a sad face, my sister then said, “Mummy did you educate me to see a day like today? And what is wrong with my future? I am well educated, getting salary of almost 1 lakh a month. If someone wants to marry me, I should be enough for him and his family… don’t you think so?”
She continued, “Mom you are insulting your own daughter by giving a dowry. Am I not good enough for the groom’s family that you’re bribing them with dowry to get that boy married to me? If you don’t respect me, how do you expect his family to respect me after you get me married? Instead of getting married into such a family I would prefer being unmarried!”
My mother’s eyes was filled with tears. She picked up her phone and called back the same man who she was speaking to before and said, “Bhaiyyaji Please say no to the groom’s family. I would not like to get my daughter married into a family where they give material things more importance than my beautiful daughter. My daughter is educated, and good enough to get suitors who would marry her for the beautiful soul that she possesses and not Dowry. I am proud of my daughter and respect her decisions.” After stating this, she disconnected the call.
My sister hugged my mother and they both cried, not in sorrow but in happiness.
Be bold enough to bring in change and to stand by it!
Image source: pixabay
read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
He said that he needed sometime to himself. I waited for him as any other woman would have done, and I gave him his space, I didn't want to be the clingy one.
Trigger Warning: This deals with mental trauma and depression, and may be triggering for survivors.
I am someone who believes in honesty and trust, I trust people easily and I think most of the times this habit of mine turns into bane.
This is a story of how a matrimonial website service turned into a nightmare for me, already traumatized by the two relationships I’ve had. It’s a story for every woman who lives her life on the principles of honesty and trust.
And when she enters the bedroom, she sees her husband's towel lying on the bed, his underwear thrown about in their bathroom. She rolls her eyes, sighs and picks it up to put in the laundry bag.
Vasudha, age 28 – is an excellent dancer, writer, podcaster and a mandala artist. She is talented young woman, a go getter and wouldn’t bat an eyelid if she had to try anything new. She would go head on with it. Everyone knew Vasudha as this cheerful and pretty young lady.
Except when marriage changed everything she knew. Since she was always outdoors, whether for office or for travelling for her dance shows, Vasudha didn’t know how to cook well.
Going by her in-laws definition of cooking – she had to know how to cook any dishes they mentioned. Till then Vasudha didn’t know that learning to cook was similar to getting an educational qualification. As soon as she entered the household after her engagement, nobody was interested what she excelled at, everybody wanted to know – what dishes she knew how to cook.