Dowry and its darker side!
‘Mother, what does dowry mean?’ ‘It’s nothing child, just a small gift given by a girl’s family when she’s married. It includes jewellery, furniture, other household appliances and money.’ ‘Why mother? Why don’t a boy’s family have to give it to him?’ ‘Don’t bother me, it’s how things work, being a girl is what makes the difference!’ Little Renu got her answer. Being a girl is what makes the difference! Years passed, she got married and saw with her two diamond-like eyes how her parents collected money enough to give her dowry. ‘No mom, paa, I don’t want anything.’ ‘How could you say that child, what will the people say?’ ‘So you’re doing it for people?’ ‘Oh, this girl doesn’t understands anything!’
She left her sweet home, with flooded tears. Not every girl gets good in-laws. She was later mocked at by people there for bringing insufficient dowry. She bore everything silently. That’s something expected from every girl or most of them. But the silence needs to be broken. It shall be broken. Dowry… Dowry often lets us down, Creates negativity, makes faces frown, Girls, why aren’t they accepted happily by society, Why their marriage creates so much anxiety. Huge demands makes their families sad, How could such a marriage make anyone glad? Often cases are heard, severe cases, Tortured for dowry where they burn women’s faces. Such a black spot it is, and among the awful things, Such a painful time, in a girl’s life it brings! Going to leave her family, her house, From a carefree girl, she has to turn a spouse. It’s a big change in life, But when burdened with dowry, becomes strife, Situations need to change, something must be done, All must be respected, be it a child, daughter or son. Dowry, inequalities, misbehavior with girls, Reduce their life’s shine, and their status of pearls. Women, not the ‘other’, but a part of humanity, Let’s respect all equally, and destroy all vanity.
Looking at the world we inhabit, numerous cases can be seen, though many are left veiled, where a woman is mistreated in her husband’s house for as trivial a thing as dowry. Often the demands keep increasing and the most foolish person is her husband who becomes a slave of his own greed and values material wealth more than spiritual one. Women must come out of such a mess as quickly as possible. Let’s try to end something that could have drastic results. Self-respect is the most prized possession of our world and who knows it more than a lady!
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About the Author: This article is contributed by Anam Fatima, our intern.
