From Dowry to Dowjones.........by Neethi Narayanan

{This essay on the evils of dowry was written in 2003, and was selected as the final entries for the teen of the year contest.} Is this the new era- where grooms arelike commodities on sale, the in-laws bargainers, and the woman-the master and yet only the slave? Dowry-an expression of love and blessings in the form of gifts for their beloved daughter, about to start her new life with her soulmate, has today been metamorphosed into a tyrinnical demand. Every parent wishes to give his daughter all the happiness in life and marital bliss but unfortunately it now comes at a spine-breaking price! Several men look for in their 'perfect other half' another easy means of revenue! The groom's family insists this is culture. The bride's kin feel this is their duty.The nation calls this "dowry". But for humanity , this is sheer cruelty. Every corner of the road, every page of the newspapers today talk of some innocent girl or the other succumbing to her miserable fate in the hands of her in-laws just because she could not pay the entire price for being their son's wife. She is tortured, blackmailed, threatened, beaten, locked up, sometimes starved, and more often than not-killed. All this just because she could not pay her tenants- her tenants who gave her a family and relations for money!!! This age-old practice, believed to be part of the Indian value-system, has now degraded those exact values. Our devilish society- that has squeezed out of every woman the dreams of living a happy married life, and flushed out of the country its well reputed image-urgently needs a make-over. And if anyone can do that- its the woman herself. Why should she pay to be tortured, infamed and insulted, becoming slaves of society?So what is it in that groom that is so expensive? What has he got except-greed for which he demands a bribe for being a husband!!! If he is worth nothing, why pay with your savings, freedom, and dignity to marry a worthless man???? Well, there is hope. Hope for a make-over of values, priorities, and the definition of marriage itself. Lets not weigh a beautiful life-long bond of unlimting, unconditional love and companionship in the scales of cash and kind. Well....we are still waiting for the time when homes and families stop comparing themselves to the stock exchange.