Here in Madurai we were fortunate enough this year to get some Valentine's protests. A hitherto unheard of hardline group took it upon themselves to burn not just Valentine's cards, but a pair of (white) dolls that were supposed to represent "lovers." Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the doll burning. The pictures in the paper were basically just scenes of chaos. I really wanted to see footage of the white American dolls being burned at the stake.
According to the chief of the Shiv Sena's North Indian branch, Jai Bhagwan Goel: "We have come to know that in America, even unmarried girls as young as 11 or 12 years have become mothers ... and every second man there is divorced," Goel told reporters after reducing several greeting cards to a small pile of ash. "This is their culture— it cannot be accepted here."
I'm certainly not the first to defend American culture, but these anti-Valentines folks need to read the Tamil newspapers every day if they think that India is some puritanical land. These stories, and daily-life in my neighborhood for that matter, make The Jerry Springer Show look like Mr. Roger's neighborhood.
"Protest Valantine Day!"
2 comments:
Since when is it off-limits to take eleven or twelve-year-old brides in India?
You're right, it's not off-limits. I mean, technically it's illegal but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It happens a lot in some places. And there are girls younger than 11 getting married too. I think for some people in India, especially for many people I know here, the major difference between the pregnant American twelve-year-old and a pregnant twelve-year-old in India would be that the girl in India is married and the girl in the States is not married. Probably the man who made this quote about America is very bothered that there are girls of that age in America having sex and getting pregnant, but the clincher for him may be that this is happening out of wedlock. I think most people nowadays in Tamil Nadu feel that it's better for a girl to wait until 18 ideally (and according to the law), and 16 or 17 in a lot of cases, to get married. Many girls are kept under close watch at home once they reach puberty and are rarely, if ever, allowed to go places alone. It used to be the case (not very long ago) that as soon as girls reached puberty they got them married off right away. Nowadays a lot more girls are studying, and it's more common for them to be getting married at 21. However, this is considered quite old for a girl to get married, especially here in Madurai. And once you cross 21 you are entering the danger zone. I'm 28 and qualify as an "old hag."
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