Author: Shefalee Vasudev
Publication: India Today
Date: May 26, 2003
Nisha Sharma's is a case of accidental
awakening. This petite 21-year-old, middle-class girl who called the police
to her wedding mandap and sent her would-be groom behind bars had never
even dreamt of female empowerment. She grew up following a conventional
script: be good, do good, accept customs, follow traditions, respect elders.
A final year student of software engineering, the Noida resident happily
agreed to an arranged marriage. In fact, she went along collecting dowry
items, a car, jewellery, gifts and clothes for her prospective in- laws.
Then a slap on her father's face
turned Nisha's world upside down. In true film style, minutes before the
wedding ceremony was to start on May 11, the prospective mother-in-law
kicked up a fracas and slapped the bride's father. She wanted additional
dowry for her much-married elder son, the groom's brother, and Rs 12 lakh
in cash. Nisha's conventional story took a U-turn. Dressed in bridal finery,
she backed off from the mandap, picking up courage and the telephone. And
called the police. The media followed suit and the story broke across the
country. The homely bride turned into a heroine while the greedy groom
fidgeted behind bars.
Nisha is no iron-willed feminist.
She admits she does not know much about the dowry laws in the country.
She is a simple, sweet girl, who on the spur of the moment "responded to
the call of my heart". She is still trying to figure out why the police
did not arrest the groom's mother who was his partner in crime.
She may be an exception, but she
is not alone. The power of empowerment lights up her light eyes and she
shrugs off the deep red bridal henna on her hands. She sits surrounded
by journalists, women's groups, political leaders, proud neighbours and
some admirers who have proposed marriage. If such social reaction to dowry
reaches critical mass, the rules of the dowry game will change. Nisha's
checkmate has made a point.
