Heart's Desire...

It was the happiest day of Diya’s life. Arjun proposed her and she readily accepted. She had been waiting for this day for so long. Arjun loved her more than his life and Diya felt the same. They enjoyed their time together, they knew each other, and they understood each other. Being with Arjun, gave Diya an assurance, a security, a trust she never felt before and Arjun found a new meaning of his life with Diya. She was his angel, his guide and his mentor too.

Tomorrow is her marriage and she still can’t keep Arjun out of her mind. Yes, she is not getting married to the only person she ever loved. Why??? The same old Indian story: CASTE. She is a Brahman and Arjun Punjabi.

They tried hard to convince their parents, gave them all possible explanations but they were just not ready. Diya’s parents knew that Arjun is a good guy, in good job, earning well but the problem is “he is not of our caste”.

I am not trying to tell a story here. It’s a situation which every one of you must have seen in your life and some must have gone through it. In some cases parents agree and in some cases children blackmail them but there is a group of people who just follow their parents wish. Either they think highly of their parents and don’t want to hurt them or they just lack the courage to fight.

Whatever be the case: I sometimes wonder WHY? Why parents oppose inter-caste marriage. Why don’t they just grow up and judge a person by his/her character and not caste. Why can’t they understand that happiness lies in love and not in caste? Why they don’t start accepting each other beliefs and customs? Why?

It’s right on their part to worry about their child but it’s wrong to force them to marry someone else. Marriage is a lifelong bond between two souls. If two people understand each other, if they love each other and can live together then why can’t they marry? Just because, they are of different caste? What a crap?

I think it’s time we should take stand and think about this. Marriages can bind India. In my view, inter-caste marriages will help people of different castes to come together and understand each other. They will learn to respect each other. It shouldn’t be a taboo but it should be a part of our life.

It is said that “you can’t change others but you can change yourself”. So it’s time that we expand our mentality and break this shackle of caste, so that our children could live a life free from this CASTE.