‘It’s A Family Tradition’

India has one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It consists of old traditions and customs which have also altered over the time. Although, some old traditions have never changed and they have evolved over the time. In today's times, they seem outdated and totally unfair. I find some traditions associated with Indian weddings quite outdated and they need extreme makeover according to the current generation. Undoubtedly, Indian marriages have more success rate than most of the world but I do feel that the foundation of this strong and pious bond should not be laid on the fact of gender discrimination.

This image is downloaded from www.pixabay.com and is free for commercial use

One of the few Indian wedding traditions which annoy me the most is the enforced extravagant hospitality by the bride's family. The bride's parents have to spend a lot to please the groom's family with their hospitality which is totally unnecessary. The so-called tradition makes them save for their daughter's wedding since the day she is born. Not only they save for the wedding day expenses but also for the dowry which is nowadays called "gifts" to daughter on her wedding.  It is so sad and unfortunate to see many educated people offering gifts to the grooms of their daughters and grooms also accepting them shamelessly or even demanding it sometimes referring the dowry to 'It's a family tradition'.

Another tradition which needs to alter is the change of the first and the last name for the bride. The bride should have every right to keep her identity. It should not be enforced on her to change her last name to her husband's last name. She can retain her father's last name if she wants who has been her part of existence as well. In some parts of India, the bride is also asked to change her first name because of some horoscopic demands or simply her in-laws don't like her first name. All in all, the bride has to give it all.

Some women are not allowed to continue their professional careers after their weddings. They have to give up all their dreams they have soared over the years while growing up. They should only be doing household chores and be responsible for taking care of the family as per "family traditions". Men, on the other hand, never give up anything be it their last name or their careers. They never undergo any drastic changes in their lives as women do. The onus is always on the women to leave their homes and careers for the sake of their husband's wish.

Typical Indian wedding traditions, in one way or the other, demean woman as such her parents are marrying her off because she has been a misfortune for them. We should understand that a tradition should not be followed merely because it is old and being followed for a long time. Nothing is more unjust to disparage one sex to the other, be it in the name of "family tradition".

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.