Marriage - India Style

Marriages in India just fascinate me:

• Although there are many people at work who have "love" marriages, there are many more that had their marriage "arranged". It's interesting to note that arranged marriages are just as successful as love marriages (now that may be due to the fact that divorce is still very frowned upon over here).
• Marriage is a big thing in India -- it's considered somewhat disgraceful to not be married by the time your 30 (disgraceful to the family that is!) Many 28/29 year-old TWers ask to transfer to another country to avoid being pushed into an arranged marriage by their parents.
• Wikipedia quote: In countries such as India and Pakistan, where it is tradition that parents arrange weddings, the average age at marriage is 17, with many brides getting married as soon as they turn 15.
• In some parts of India (including parts of South India), tradition dictates that a son/brother can't get married until his sisters are married (provided there isn't too big of an age gap). The son/brother is also responsible for arranging / paying for their sisters' weddings. I've had job interviewees tell me that they change jobs because they needed to be close to home while they were handling their sister's wedding. Have also had co-workers ask for loans so that they can marry off their sisters (and so that they themselves can get married --- threatening girlfriend!).
• Many people go to astrologers to determine what date/time they should be married. A women that I work with was told by her astrologer that her most auspicious wedding date was 6 weeks out -- so she placed an ad in the paper for a husband (very common) -- and lo and behold was married 6 weeks later. Click here to read more about marriage Astrology. Click here to read some marriage ads. Click here to read a humorous article about arranged marriages. Click here to see a google spoof about Indian marriage ads.

On the other hand ...

A couple of years ago, one of my co-workers was forced into a marriage by his parents. He left home and left behind his wife with his parents. When he had to return home due to a family illness, he and his father were arrested for violating the Dowry Prohibition Act. They were in jail for over 3 weeks. In this case, it was a trumped up charge --- his wife's family was angry that he had essentially abandoned his wife with his parents and were seeking retribution.

The laws are harsh though because in India nearly 7,000 women are killed annually in disputes over dowries, and activists believe that figure represents only a third of the actual number of such murders.

Click here to read more about the dowry laws in India.