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Demands for dowry has evolved with time, here are 8 ways, potential in-laws ask dowry in India, under the guise of polite language!
Many of my friends (guys) have told me that they don’t support dowry. But “gifts” are okay. Some refuse dowry altogether and understand that “gifts” are indeed dowry. And some still want it, and more and more of it.
Among girls, the debate is similarly conflicted. Some want a lavish wedding and dowry in order to enhance their status. Yet others want none and are hostile about it (I am one of them.)
However, in this modern world I have observed some ways in which the society have changed the norms (for the worse) and have devised innovative ways to ask for it, without attracting a lawsuit. Let us discuss some of them:
My friend Mana who was in a relationship with this guy, had the guy’s uncle who was an ex IAS officer ask for dowry as the guy’s parents were “very shy and innocent” to ask anything themselves!! Pressure much!
For example: hamare yaha fridge nhi hai aapki beti ko problem hogi, we don’t have fridge in hour home, your daughter will have difficulty!
One of my friend’s would be nanad, sister-in-law, called his father periodically saying,
“How will Bhabhi live here, there’s no TV”— TV dispatched.
”There’s no AC”— AC dispatched.
“Well, there’s no electricity”— generator dispatched
And the demands go on and on.
People remain calm and composed when they meet, even till a few months, and then state their demands. It can be affirmative like “She will bring her own bed, right?”, or it goes something like, “Our son really likes a BMW”.
Classic move to show that we are giving a flat, now your turn for everything else. Now the thing is, the girl’s family didn’t ask for a flat nor did they desire it, so why should they be the ones furnishing it at all?
So basically, everything is a gift, because we indeed gift our friends and relatives on their birthday too. But how many of us gift cars to them??
We have a daughter to be wed, so we need stuff/ we had a daughter on whose wedding we spent a lot, so we need stuff.
To put it simply: we are hungry for money and show off.
So the families bred a son to ultimately sell him? (Better to have a daughter only then.) Also, the expenses borne on son is to be got from the girl’s parents in most cases and this is also used as an excuse.
Also, this is that kind of “free ki shaadi” for which the daughter-in-law can be taunted for life that she never brought anything from her father’s house.
The list of course is inexhaustible as the in laws have indeed devised very innovative and versatile methods of asking for dowry and masking it effectively.
We as a society have indeed gone retard in many ways, and we need to buck up. Yes, families indeed love spending on weddings, but “demanding” in any form is a sin (even according to law) and should be avoided.
I have seen some very heartfelt scenes in movies and even in real life when the woman or even the couple together refused dowry and set up an example. This is the kind of people we all should cherish and strive to hold high in the society.
PS: Do share some of the innovative ways you found of the dowry asking methods and spread awareness in order to observe the early signs and avoid such sham at all costs.
Image source: Still from Roshay, Made In Heaven, edited on CanvaPro
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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