By Priyanka Chakrabarty:
Let us begin by doing a very simple analysis of what constitutes the society. The basic elements are men and women. They get married, procreate, have a family and live happily ever after. Well, ideally it is that easy. But then one fine day, we human beings became aware of concepts of superiority and inferiority. It was immediately declared that men are superior and women took what was left, that is inferiority.
With this social system in place, evolution continued. Then we landed in the 21st century and all of a sudden we all wanted to be “modern”. One day while reading the newspaper, I came across an incident which proves how “modern” we are. In Bangalore, men and women who are in live in relations pretend to be married so that they can get quick accommodation. After a while, the woman starts to believe that she actually has a future with the man, till he leaves and never comes back. It is to be found later that he is already married to a woman chosen by his parents.
As a result of this incident some “experts” said that girls need proper guidance. Strict rules and regulations must be imposed with regards to the exposure a girl is getting. After reading this I wanted to give a standing ovation to the individual for coming up with such an appropriate solution for the problem at hand. So basically the solution is that if you have a problem just don’t allow the female counterpart to breathe and everything will be fine.
Live in relations in our country are immediately put under the label of “indecent”. Why? Because for a change, two people had the courage to stand up for what they believed in and acted the way they considered to be appropriate without carrying out any activities which adversely affects the masses. In short, they chose the path to happiness. The girls in this case would be immediately called “maryadaheen” and “charitraheen” while the men may get away with something like “Bachoon se kabhi kabhi galti ho jati hain. Par beta aisa phir kabhi mat karna” (Kids make mistakes sometimes but son do not do it again). So now they either give in to the societal pressure and marry or they break up.
Many arrange marriages are a system of absolute mockery in our country. Based on materialism, they make us want to believe that all that glisters is indeed gold. The matrimonial sites are a classic example where a man is looking for tall, slim, fair, convent educated, knows how to cook and sing girl. On the other hand a woman is looking for a man having a higher end five digit salary, owns property, good looking is not a compulsory criteria but an added bonus. Marriages are indeed made in heaven.
Sometimes I wonder if we are living in an ideal society. Because living in such a place absolutely requires no effort on our part. We do not have to think, because we must act according to predetermined standards. We do not have to be rational because reasoning is prohibited. We just have to act and live by the societal norms which are not difficult to follow considering we have the entire society handholding us. Life is just so much easier and effortless that it makes you want to sing:
“Haste Haste
Kat Jaye Raste
Duniya Yuhi Chalti Rahe
Kushi Mile ya Gaam
Badlenge Naa Hum
Duniya Chahe Badalti Rahe”