Dowry system is a menace which is deep rooted in the Indian culture. Dowry means a property, goods or valuables which is given by the bride’s family after marriage to the groom’s side. Its an issue which is not just common sight among the poor, but also the rich and high-class people. The poor see this as a liability to be paid off by the poor bride’s parents, and the rich flaunt this ritual as an affair of extravaganza, where they show off their wealth and property. But the matter of the fact is that in both these situations the bride is the poor victim who is technically being traded. Hefty dowries fix a marriage, not match or compatibility among two people. Marriage is a sacred celebration of the uniting of two people for life, and dowry is an evil which is fixing a price onto a priceless bonding. The first thought that comes to my mind when talking of dowry is the movie ‘Badrinath ki Dulhania’. In the movie there’s a scene where the bride and groom’s family is exchanging money as dowry and Alia Bhatt interrupts the scene. Instead of standing up as a morally upright citizen, she reconciles to the fact that she can’t change people’s attitude and the country can never change. This shows how common scene dowry system has become, so common that those who can afford to pay, see this as trivial and don’t understand the immorality of the act. According to statistics 21 lives are lost to dowry every day and the conviction rate for the same is a mere 35%, and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that as many as 7,634 women died in the country due to dowry harassment in 2015. And this is only those that get registered and recognized, imagine how many more women might be living in the terror of their in-laws or husbands harassing them over the matter of dowry. The victims own family does not support her because they have already given up the girl after marriage and see this as a liability written off. Whatever happens now is between her and her husband and the troubles of their married life. The root of this practice is again male dominancy and the orthodox attitude of controlling women and keeping them shut. The practice of dowry itself is a silent contract that gives the reigns of power in the hands of a man and in this way he also gets the reigns to control the women he gets hitched to. Her freedom to speak, work and do things. It is high time women realise that her freedom is in her own hands, and the governement today stands with her, India has not wasted its efforts to get freedom to let her daughters rot in the house subject to the tortures a dominating figure. Its time that women stand hand in hand with each other and fight for their rights. It is you with whom starts the change, and it is you alone who writes your destiny. Its now onto you…submission or rebel?
