The social evil of dowry today has literally become a ‘burning issue’. A hapless newly-wed bride who does not bring rich booty in the form of dowry to satisfy the greed of her in laws, is an easy prey to the sadism and pyromania of her parent-like-in-laws and sometimes, her very own husband. Newspapers and magazines mind greedily over dowry-burning, bring out full page editorial on the burning social problem and yet, the issue is every green for making more headlines and for spilling platitudes on the pages. ‘Investigations’ go on in the matter without any progress being made an, meanwhile, as fresh case crops up. More often that not the whole event is passed off an ‘accident’ or suicide and, to put it tongue in cheek, the accident is never really ‘unfortunate’ for the ‘had been’ in-laws and the husband. The ‘poor’ husband has open opportunities for becoming rich once for, once more, he is eligible in the marriage market. Truly enough, if for nothing else but only ‘dowry deaths’, we are living in the proverbial ’Kalyug’. Have we ever reflected upon the abysmal depths of avarice and depravity that we have stooped to?
The dowry system prevalent in our society is not merely a social evil but a poison, a curse and a cancerous ailment that needs immediate control and cure. The practice of giving and taking dowry, its accompanying features and after-effects are subconsciously leading the society towards depravity. The sanctity of the institution of marriage is being violated and made sanctimonious. Marriage has come to be reduced to a business transaction and a deal to be struck with those girls parents who are somehow able to make the highest bid. A ‘price’ has to be paid for seeing one’s daughter getting married. The groom people issue, as it were tender notices and it is highest quotation of ‘price’ of a particular prospective bridegroom that clinches the marriage. So we can claim the dubious satisfaction that marriages, after all, are not made in heaven; in fact, they are the handiwork of dowry.
A son, whether he is an idiot or even a moron, is like a cheque that can be encashed through his marriage. The better placed he is, the more is his value. A doctor, an engineer an IAS officer, a postgraduate or a graduate, all have their price tags in various ranges. Besides hard cash, marriage also brings with it many perquisites to the prospective bridegroom which may be anything from a cycle or scooter to a TV, refrigerator, furniture, car, video or even a house. Many of matrimonial alliance has been snapped amidst the proceedings of the marriage ceremony due to the exorbitant and unreasonable demands made on the spur of the occasion or, sometimes, due to the inability of the girl’s parents to fulfil or comply with the conditions and demands made earlier.
It is important to understand the context and relevance of dowry as a practice and custom which dates back to ancient times, and could be found in almost every corner of the world. In ancient days, down to the Vedic times, and even later, dowry was a symbol of the setting up of a new home and the starting of a new life by the newly-weds. As a token of this, the daughter was given as many items of household requirements as the parents could happily give to see her settle down comfortably in life along with her husband. Monetary assistance was also given sometimes to see both man and wife settle down well in life The same practice is still followed in many parts of the world. Furthermore, dowry established an equity between daughter and son, as the son’s had sole right in inheriting property etc. However, the very spirit of the custom of dowry has been burnt at the stake of greed and vitiated for unscrupulous and ulterior ends. On the one hand, we preach and vouch on the equality of the sexes, dignity and respect for women and the important role of women in the society, on the other hand we make our young women the poverbial sacrificial lambs on the altar of marriage for which their hapless fathers have to pay a price. The parents of the bride have to murder their dreams and ambitions of seeing their daughter happy, prosperous and well-settled. It cannot be merely passed off in the name of ‘paradox’ for it unfolds our unabashed ‘double standards’ and hypocrisy.
Indian women today are getting more enlightened, conscious, educated and economically independent. The notions that marriage is an ‘insurance’ and dowry a ‘premium’, that dowry gives confidence to a bride to enter her ‘in-laws’ houses are delusions and hold no water. This education and enlightenment in a way, has complicated the situation. Women are not ready to bear jeers and snide comments on their lack of dowry. They rebel, answer back and thus invite more abuse. However, they are not so self-confident that they can leave their husband. So they simmer and become bitter till they commit suicide or are burnt.
The psycho-socio-economic impact of the evils of dowry can be very managing. As a matter of fact, the very birth of a girl in the family is a depressant and is considered to be a curse in practically every community and religious group in India. A girl is always treated as an alien member and is made to suffer a repressed personality. The little self-respect she has is cruelly vanquished as she watches her father undergoing harrowing nightmares to get her married. Quite often a girl is the inadvertent cause of breaking up her parents home in the process of setting up a house for the son-in-law. The huge price paid by her father at the risk of her own life causes many a parental home to reach the stage of bankruptcy owing to enormous debts. The abject helplessness of the parents of the daughter finds many outlets-in alcoholism, in a state of utter frustration and despair, even in suicide and homicide. It leads to an unhappy marriage for the bride, and maltreatment, torture, maladjustment, dehumanization of the women and ultimately to divorce or suicide. The pity of it is that we ourselves design it all and then go on to blame our stars for it.
Economically a marriage in our society is not an extravagant affair, but also a happy hunting ground for the money-lenders and creditors. This is especially so in the vast regions of rural and remote India. Furthermore, it is an open secret that most of the transactions in present day marriages are made in black money so to escape the burdens of income tax, property tax, etc. Dowry is thus indirectly undermining our economy by encouraging black money.
It is indeed most shameful that Indian society has come to degrade its women. Today many women are being set aflame for the simple reason that she is an Indian women weak and meek by temperament. She is a bride one minute and a burnt corpse the next minute. It is time we stopped uttering commonplace remarks and took some concrete steps for the banishment of the blame of dowry from our society. Stringent laws and their rigid enforcement against the evils of dowry is required.
It has been found that public opinion is still in favour of the dowry system and whatever toughened legal stance was taken by the Central or State Governments it did not deter underhand dowry deals. More inter-caste, inter-religious, inter-regional, and love marriages should be encouraged for, not only will they bring about national integration, but also curb the practice of the giving and taking of dowry. The youth needs to be educated and taught about the evils of the dowry system so that they restrain themselves from accepting the status quo in this regard. More often than not, it has been found that it is with the compliance of the would-be bridegroom’s wishes, that the parents fix a price for bride. The sons are not only a party to the system, but sometimes have their own demands. As husbands, they themselves are responsible for all kinds of torture and inhuman treatment on their wives and encourage the other family members to do the same, all with the aim of raking in as much wealth and benefits as they can from the hapless parents of the hapless brides. All this is nothing but evidence of moral depravity and mental bankruptcy of our young generation of men. On the one hand, they criticize the customs, practices and conventions as outdated and evil, but on the other hand, they never mind the social evil of dowry which they explain as an established practice. If only our women realized that the present sex ratio of the country- 930 females for 1000 males is favourable to them and adopted a more positive and firm stance against the evil of dowry, more than half the battle against dowry system would be won.
It is heartening to know that the anti-dowry campaign is gaining in strength. It is essential for our society, and more so for the youth, to realize and understand that, after all, brides are not for burning. Better be a single man of substance, than a dowry-fed, ever-eligible bridegroom.
There are many festivals around the world and each one has its own significance but Diwali or Deepavali is the brightest festival of all. The reason is due to, glittering clay lamps in the premises of every house and the sparkling crackers in the sky, which brings brightness by removing the darkness around the world. On this auspicious day, if we observer, the night will be brighter with full of lights than the day. That is why Diwali is also called as festival of lights and the word Deepavali mean array of lamps in Sanskrit. It is having different names and various religions follow it on the day of Amavasya according to Hindu calendar. The main theme and euphoria of the festival is accomplishment of good over evil in the world or oneself. It depicts that good will always succeed evil, where good here is indicated with brightness or lights and evil is the damp darkness. In general, damp darkness is the breeding ground for most of the iniquity things and light eliminates those things. From the ancient times where Vedic culture was followed, it is believed that this festival guides everyone to annihilate shadow and find self-illuminated inner light, which is concealed in every person. The social and gender equality is the goal of this festival along with removing evil from oneself.
The festival has different mythological events affiliated with it such as in North India it is celebrated on return of Lord Rama after 14 years exile and destroying evil called Ravan. Whereas in South India it is celebrated on the account of, lord Krishna defeating demon Narakasura. Other than these mythological reasons, it is believed that praying to Goddess Laxshmi gives prosperity for the rest of year. And most of the merchants offer prayer to Goddess Laxshmi and start their new account books on this day. In real Diwali is celebrate for 5 consecutive days in some places of India where the first day is known as Dhanteras followed by Naraka Chadurdashi, Lakshmi Puja, Govardhana Puja and finally Bhai Dooj. Here each day has importance such as Dhanteras is meant for purchasing any new gold or silver items, Bhai Dooj is meant for sister- brother relationship and Lakshmi puja is meant to offer prayers to Goddess Lakshmi. However, irrespective of the significance associated with each day all around the world many people celebrate on one day which is Diwali.
What in done on this day?
Similar to other festivals, Diwali is also an occasion to purchase new clothes, lot of sweets, flowers, precious jewelry etc. In addition to all those items, fire crackers are also purchased in huge quantity to brighten the night of Diwali. People start the diwali day by putting new clothes and offering prayers to god for spiritual progression. The tradition of putting Rangoli is also followed by many people, where the diyas are decorated in the evening. And in the evening relatives and friends are given gifts such as dry fruits, gift hampers, sweets and chocolates. Goddess Lakshmi is offered prayer with family and some sweets are consumed in the form of "prashad". Then diya or clay lamps are put in the premises and surroundings. The exact celebrations start when the entire family and friends together burst fire crackers. There is no religious difference on this occasion and everyone is welcomed to join the celebration as Diwali is not just a festival but also a belief to remove evil from this world.
Lets interpret some facts from the Diwali traditions:
All the interpretations are biased and are not real facts but just imagined, there may be different views from other individuals.
Rangoli:
If we interpret Rangoli, it tells us many things such as equality and strength of being together. All the different materials used in the Rangoli such as flowers, Rangoli power, colored powder should be considered as people of different caste, sex and cadet etc. Though individually they may look good but if arranged together as done in Rangoli an excellent masterpiece is formed. It tells that all people are equal in the eyes of deity or god and anything should be destroyed with the strength of togetherness.
It is believed that Rangoli brings prosperity if it is designed in the front of entrance of the house. The reason is goodess Laxshmi is treated as Goddess of wealth and to impress her Rangoli is used. There is also another belief in south India that the Rangoli powder used for preparing Rangoli, can serve as food for ants and other small insects, which is consider as good deed. That is why normally cooking flour is used as Rangoli powder, rock salt and flowers are also used in some places in south India for preparing Rangoli.
Diyas or Clay Lamps:
We all know that reason for lighting lamps, which is to overcome darkness and brighten up the world. And the main theme of Deepavali is also to lit self Diyas, but if we interpret further, there is some other message associate with it, which is sincerity and sacrifice. Though any person can do anything for themselves, to sacrifice for others they need lot of guts. The diyas or clay lamp also burns itself to brighten this world for us with sincerity till the oil in it completely drains. So, one should learn that sincerity and little sacrifice are also needed in life.
It is also believed that harmful insects and micro-organism which rise in rainy season are destroyed by the light and heat produced by the diyas.
Gift giving during Diwali:
There is no particular reason for giving gifts and is normally given to show our loved ones how much we care. It is also often given to impress colleagues or boss for improving relationship and status in the company. However, in general if we interpret the gift giving process, it is nothing but sharing our success with some loved one in the form of essential items.
It is believed in Hinduism that if we give something without expecting any favor from it, then in return we will get more in some other way. Gift giving also teaches us terms like sharing and satisfaction, for better living.
Fireworks and Crackers:
The exact reason is to alert all or to show that something has happened, whether it is bad or good reason. But, in general it signifies celebrations in the festival and each firework can be considered as signal of success. In south India, even for deaths fireworks are used by some communities, which show they are just signals for informing some news.
To conclude, any festival is to teach something to this world irrespective of its historical significance. It is the duty of human to know it and pass the message to the future generation. They should know the good and should not exceed the limits, which is often done in case of fireworks and set an example to their next generation.
Have a safe and HAPPY DIWALI.
Reasons for Celebrating Diwali
There are a number of reasons associated with the celebrations of Diwali and if someone says that this festival is celebrated for a single reason he/she would definitely be proved wrong. Some people believes that on this very day Lord Ram Chandra returned to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana, the demon king. The people of Ayodhya welcomed Him by lighting diyas or earthen lamps. From that day onwards, this festival is celebrated every year in memory of Lord Rama's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. Moreover, some people believes that Goddess Lakshmi roams everywhere on this day and she enters only those houses which are thoroughly cleaned, white washed or well illuminated with lights. It is believed that those houses where Goddess Lakshmi enters gets relieved from poverty and other short comings. Besides, some people believes that after monsoon it is necessary to clean the houses on Diwali to maintain hygiene and well being of family members. Whatever the reason might be it is a fact that Diwali is considered as an auspicious occasion.
When and how Diwali is celebrated
Diwali is celebrated in different parts of India
Constituents of Diwali festival
Lights
Generally by Diwali we mean festival of lights. It is a fact that light plays an important role in Diwali. On this holy and pious day people burn Diyas or earthen lamps to lit their houses in the evenings. Moreover, colorful candles are now also lighted in Diwali in many houses. Now-a-days, earthen pots with different designs are available in the market.
Sweets
Sweets play an important part of this festival and different kinds of sweetmeats are prepared in the houses. Sweets like laddoos, gujiyas, rasgullas are exchanged with relatives and everyone shares their good wishes among each other.
New clothes
Fire Crackers
Different kinds of fire crackers are burnt in Diwali and this brings about enormous joy to everyone especially children. The night sky gets filled with different kinds of colorful firecrackers which emit colored lights.
The first three days of Diwali
Benefits of Diwali
Negatives of Diwali
Conclusion
Diwali is about to come and we are going to celebrate this festival on 26th of October, 2011. Come let us make ourselves clean from within our heart so that the holy lights of Diwali touches us and we get good blessings or wishes. Hence, open all the doors and windows of your hearts to welcome this festival so that we could celebrate it wholeheartedly. Let us welcome Goddess Lakshmi and clean the path through which she will come to us so that we get blessed with divine blessing. If we could do so, then our life will sparkle like the lights of Diwali.
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Festivals
The category focusses on festivals followed at different places of the world.
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