Are Big Fat Indian Weddings A Hypocrite Attempt To Show Off Wealth?

Weddings in India have always been considered a big, grand, larger than life affair. In fact, one of the biggest dreams of parents is to get their daughter / son married in the most impressive manner.

For some parents and family, it is an opportunity to show off their immense wealth and for some it is just a day of spending the wealth earned in a lifetime. In fact, there are cases in some of the Indian wedding, where one feels that there is no stoppage to spending of money. Such weddings become the talk of the town not just for a day or two but for months to come. From small occasions like a mehndi ki raat to bigger functions like wedding reception, celebrations are nothing but a display of wealth. The so-called aim that ‘people should be awed!’ gets reflected in almost everything seen on the occasion.

There is no doubt that people do get awed after seeing such a wedding. But the question is exaggeration of wealth to such an extent is justifiable or not?

Until a decade or two ago, people used to ask for dowry shamelessly and now it is given shamelessly. Though such a tradition does not harm any one directly, one is expected to always give or do more during a wedding. To some extent it is peer pressure, where one parent tries to outperform the other parent.

Spending money or the way to spend money is a personal choice but it does create some kind of pressure in the minds of parents who actually can not afford such grandeur.

They spend almost all their earnings in just one or two days. At times, they take up personal loans or take some money from their relatives to make sure that everything in the wedding is perfect. No matter, if it takes a lifetime to pay that off. No wonder, every parents want their child to get married in the most beautiful way as possible but what is more important is how beautiful there life is after the wedding.

One cannot say that this approach is right or wrong as it is still a debatable issue. For those who can afford or are willing to spend, other things are not important for them. But for those who have to think twice before taking each step, such an approach to matrimony becomes a problem.

The happiness of the parents seems to be incomplete with the kind of pressure they have on their head. It is amazing to see that even today majority of the Indians are afraid to give birth to a daughter thinking that she will create unnecessary headache for the whole family.

One of the biggest reasons why sex ratio is still so low in India is because parents are still afraid to give birth to daughters. The main reason for this apprehension is the kind of expenditure they might have to bear during their wedding occasion.

Such a practice is mainly prevalent in North India, where wealth show-off is considered to be a common norm. That’s why many mothers kill their daughters in their womb. Such ill-practices exist in societies that are considered to be modern and open-minded in their approach.
One does not realize how one thing can lead to the other. Things like killing of a daughter before birth, dowry system, domestic violence etc have still not ended. In fact, the number of divorces also has increased these days.

But there is an underlined hypocrisy in such weddings. People blow money out of proportion thinking that their daughter will be happier this way. But that’s not true – the sanctity of a marriage does not depend on the amount of money spent on it, it mainly depends on the kind of love and affection she gets after she gets married. And this can happen even if she marries in the simplest way possible.

Wedding is a reflection of happiness and happiness can never be measure by amount of cash spent.

Somehow, such wonderful weddings are also not able to symbolize happiness. Though one feels very happy during such an occasion, what about the repercussions, what about its darker side… If that can be resolved, any kind of wedding would always be a pleasure to attend.

Sukhpreet Kaur writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India’s fastest growing matrimonial website, provides online Indian matrimonial classified services. Jeevansathi.com enables users to create a matrimony profile on the website and allow prospective grooms and brides to contact each other. Users can search for profiles through advanced search options on the website. Users can avail free registration and make initial contact with each other through services available on Jeevansathi.com via Chat, SMS, and e-mail