Say No to Dowry: It’s A Curse

"Dowry",

Every year, we commemorate Women’s Day with a different theme. This year’s topic is #chooseTochallenge. Therefore I choose to do just that. Why does the bride’s family provide dowry if marriage is a vehicle in which male and female are two equals? While both males and females make equal efforts to care for their families, the bride makes the first sacrifice in marriage, altering her identity, place of residence, and priorities to ensure the union’s success. This is sufficient from the bride’s side.

Now it is the groom’s job to fulfill his agreement share. Instead, you coerce or traumatize the bride and her parents for financial and material gain. The ransoming of valuable items and vehicles from the girl’s family is deteriorating daily. Consequently, many innocent lives are lost. Due to dowry demands, a young woman committed herself by jumping into the Sabarmati River in the recent dramatic case of Ayesha. Her final words of desperation have awakened us. Numerous instances of this nature were unseen. In 2019, dowry-related deaths in India numbered more than 7,100. (Published by Statista Research Department).

Dowry neither conforms to rationality nor is upheld by religion, which is not supported by society. There is no place for it in a civilized society. Dowry is a Sin, and it has been done in Indian society for centuries, regardless of caste or class, in the name of tradition or culture. It is neither a tradition nor a culture but rather a “Curse” for a society that has destroyed or destroyed many homes each minute. If we consider ourselves civilized or educated, we must immediately renounce this horrible, heinous habit, as we did in the past through several social reforms. It is time to abolish such traditional customs to save or maintain the Indian family system.

To combat it, the first step must be made within the family. We must train and teach both boys and girls that marriage is a union between a man and a woman in an equal partnership where each must play a similar role. Both parties are equal and deserving of love and respect. For a marriage to be successful, parents must also teach sons responsibility. Here, all expectations and values attributed to girls must be evaluated as balanced. Please abolish dowry tradition; I implore parents and male readers through this medium. It is a subject of shame for you and a curse for society, not pride. Teach your kid and daughter to treat their relationship with respect and affection. And also, teach your girl child to be confident enough to express her opinions and stand up to this nonsense if it occurs; do not take your own life.

Our culture is deeply founded on sexism and only fosters the education of male children. A well-educated girl may educate her entire family, clan, and community; without educating them, it is impossible to construct a progressive society. If you wish to bring about social change, I implore you to educate your daughters about financial independence and independence in their views, ideas, and decisions. I also encourage girls to educate themselves if they wish to bring about change, whether within themselves, their families, communities, or countries. Knowledge of power is a  prerequisite for effecting change. Numerous governments and nongovernmental organizations work to empower women. Rising Tree is one of these organizations; it promotes girls’ education and women’s empowerment, focusing on underprivileged segments of society. It operates women’s enlightenment centers in outlying districts of Jharkhand, where neither children nor females have access to school or college. You should promote or support these work or initiatives to maximize their positive impact on the disadvantaged. Raise and Rise.