Indian Logic: Part I

MARRIAGE!

In other countries, it’s one custom in which a guy and a girl come together and participate in this custom with their own preference!  It’s just them two who matters the most on this particular day! No dowry, no drama, no caste-problem! 

In India, it’s one custom in which a guy, a girl, their respective families, their relatives, their friends, their colleagues, and the whole society comes together and perform various rituals! Wait, it doesn’t end there, there is definitely a lot of drama, caste-problems, dowry, gifts, money, money and money!

Then in India we don’t have just “Love marriage”, we have one more kind called “Arranged Marriage”. And guess what Love Marriage just came up in our society!  And it just doesn’t end there; this one marriage needs not only authorization of the families but of society and relatives too!  

And I don’t really get the theory of Arranged Marriages!  Our Indian society is full of hypocrites! Take example of a girl’s parents. Like me, my dad always said to me “Darling, don’t talk to strangers or ever go near them. They are bad people.” But if I do arranged marriage, he will have to give me in the hands of a stranger. But didn’t he say that they are “bad people”?

I am not saying that the concept of arranged marriage is totally wrong, but somewhere it is. You can never be justly sure if the person to whom you are giving your daughter’s hand is a pure gentleman! He may act that way! His family may have lied! You never know!

Arranged Marriages have always been victorious in case of our elders but how do we know it will be for us too?

EDUCATION

A student’s first priority always is “studies”. It’s like their mantra to just study, especially in India. From the very beginning, parents in India put in their heads that there will be a time in their lives when they would have to make a decision, they would have to choose between three streams: Arts, Commerce and Science. And parents even put in their heads that “Arts is one stream which is chosen by the dumbest of all, Commerce is chosen by those who bring a little more than average, and Science are for those sharpest of all who know everything, who have the highest IQ level and can’t be defeated by none.”

What a lie! Till a student understands the real meaning of these streams he has already chosen Science by his parent’s and society’s approval. And now well either he is an engineer or a doctor.

I don’t get this mentality of parents and the society that only Science students are the most intelligent ones! Are you kidding me? And why do these elders think that streams are meant to be divided among students in accordance to their percentages?

And then now, this one decision involves not only the teachers and family, but also the relatives, friends, elders, counselors, society and just every single person. Well ok the child may need your help, but they need your suggestions not you taking decisions for them.

Now we have so many options in every single stream, and I don’t think any subject is easier than the other. And what if the high scorer wants to take up Arts? What if he/she is interested in Psychology or maybe History?

It is not about the percentage, it’s mainly about the child’s interest and liking. Let them do what they like, and don’t put your decisions onto them.
The best parents can do for their children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms… let them be better people, let them believe more in themselves.