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Women’s liberation has really come a long way in this country. The positives of this phenomenon can definitely not be ignored and neither can its negatives be. I can at least say this based on the experiences of my dear friend, Manohar, when he recently
went to meet his prospective bride at Salkia (a place near Howrah, West Bengal) for the first time.

Manohar is a man of around thirty years of age. He stays with his parents at Rakhal Das Auddy Road in Kolkata. His parents had been looking to get him married for quite some time, but somehow, things were not falling in place. Manohar is a mediocre looking person, with dusky complexion, height on the shorter side, moustaches almost covering his lips and of medium built. Overall, as a prospective groom, he is not at all an attractive proposition. Professionally, he is a teacher, teaching in a private institution. The job offers him low compensation and nothing much in terms of additional facilities. Manohar comes from a very conservative family and so over the years, his thought process regarding the society and its creatures has been influenced accordingly. Manohar has always wanted to have a simple, homely, good-looking and caring person as his wife. Manohar’s father is a retired state government personnel.

Probably, it was the month of January. In response to an advertisement in Ananda Bazaar Patrika (a Bengali’s indispensable medium of seeking suitable matrimonial alliances through newspaper), which read, "Suitable groom required for a sweet, homely and beautiful graduate girl, aged 24 years. Call 9831077067." Manohar’s father, Mr. Timir Das called up the particular number to interact with the girl’s parents. The outcome of which was that Manohar along with his parents was invited to the girl’s house. It was the 27th of January (a Sunday) and I was escorting my dear friend Manohar along with his parents. Actually, initially, I was a bit hesitant to go along with them but then when Manohar as well as his mother insisted repeatedly, I just could not refuse. While I was in the cab along with Manohar, I kept gazing at him from time to time. From his eyes, it was evident, that for Manohar, the moment had arrived. For the first time in his life, he was going to meet a girl who was actually his potential wife. By the way, the girl’s name was Moumita.

After a couple of hour’s journey by cab, we reached Mr. Dasgupta’s house. Mr. Ajitesh Dasgupta was Moumita’s father. We were cordially received by Mr. Dasgupta and his wife, Neera. Moumita was their only issue. After sometime, Moumita entered the drawing room. She looked stunning in a designer salwar-kameez which was quite unlike the expectations of Manohar’s parents. They expected to see Moumita in a sari, to see some sort of uneasiness in her body language as a prospective bride. They desired to see her blushing while answering their questions. But no such things happened. There was a peculiar sort of uneasiness in Moumita’s eyes.

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* Contributed by -
Kisholoy Roy,
MBA (Marketing),
Content Editor, Infoedge Management Solutions.