When I was in college (undergrad), I happened to be an observer of an amusing incident which occured during an academic project in which we as a group of 3 were supposed to inquire about the perceptions of girls about their status in Indian society.

While talking to a group of girls in a University in Kanpur, one of my project mates (whom I will call Mr. X from here on) seemed to become deeply interested in a particular girl. Seeing this actually happening, one of my other project mate and myself couldn’t let our special curiosity fade away, and we ended up standing next to a tree which was pretty close to where the real action was taking place.

After going through the normal conversation Mr. X did something which was beyond our comprehension. He asked the girl about her gotra. 

“What the heck he is talking about :)?” My other group mate was bemused at what he had just heard.

Being the gentlemen that we were, we thought of not interferring with the gotra talk that the couple was having and decided to decipher the mystery of the gotra after their conversation would come to an end.

It was not before half an hour that we could get an opportunity to talk to Mr. X, who went on to explain the hooplah surrounding the mystery term gotra. By the way Mr. X hails from a zamindar family residing in a small town in Harayana where he can do nearly everything but to marry a girl from the same gotra, which if he did, could literally have deadly consequences for both him and the girl.

The raison d’etre was pretty clear now to both of us. Mr. X wanted to leave no stone unturned to eliminate all kinds of risks and doubts before getting into any kind of relationship with a girl whom he had just met and had for sure fallen in love with.

It was not that Mr. X believed in the same tradition and norm that have been existant in his part of the World for quite sometime now. In spite of being the most eligible and educated bachelor in his town, he dared not to cross the line for the fear of the barbaric consequences.

Initially, we couldn’t believe what Mr. X had just told us and we thought that he was making a mockery out of us. But, soon we realized that he was dead serious about a fact that has become such an integral part of lives of the so many in our country.

On top of this, there are corporate houses and businesses trying to make money by encouraging such divisions in our society. And there are innumerable examples of such companieswhich make sure that the parent’s wishes of a girl marrying a guy of the same caste are fulfilled to the core.

The question that needs to be asked though is:

“Who is to be blamed for such a thought process? Is it the companies that are cashing on this kind of divisional thinking that needs to be blamed? or Should the administration in our country which has not been able to do anything whatsoever in order to get rid of this menace should be held accountable?

OR

Should we rise above the blame game to pause for a moment and take a look at the irrational and illogical tendency and mode of thinking that has gripped our society and has made us all corrupt to the extent of even indulging in actions that the whole humanity would be ashamed of?”

Source for Image: http://ratheesh.livejournal.com/322652.html