This South Dravidian wedding
Despite our claims of being rational and affordable thinkers, it appears there is still lots of labor to try to to.
If we glance back at however the country has developed and evolved over the years, we’ll in all probability surprise ourselves. There are elementary changes that have taken place within the country, particularly with relation to socially construed components like gender, caste, etc.
For instance, these days we've got stumble upon – and browse concerning – several instances of individuals keeping aside their ‘caste’ and ‘religious’ variations and not solely living harmoniously, however additionally serving to members of different communities out. that is why, once an area Malayalam newspaper recently carried a paid announcement a couple of wedding, it came as a surprise to several.
Not that it's uncommon to own individuals pay to print wedding announcements, it’s typically the fundamental data of name, date and venue that's publicised, however what has raised eyebrows during this specific advertizement is that the family has taken it to a small degree too so much with its careful clarification concerning the Nair lineage of the newlyweds’ families. just in case you didn’t understand, Nairs area unit one among the upper castes among Malayalis, ranking slightly below the Brahmin and Hindustani castes.
The announcement reflects the hypocrisy of our society in an exceedingly rather, distinct method. the maximum amount as individuals claim to be progressive and broad-minded, as opposition the previous generations, they still won't deliberate before posting such associate complete wedding ad with details tracing the Nair bloodlines of the bride and groom. what's even unsettling is that the families area unit each extremely educated, the mention of that additionally comes solely when the parties’ caste was punctually canonized.
This is the paid ad that was printed recently:
Written in Malayalam, the announcement starts with introducing the bride therefore — ‘Mythili Menon, of the bloodline of Diwan Peshkar Shri Kappazhom Raman Pillai of Thiruvithankur (Travancore) and Shrimati Gauri Amma from the Kovil Pillai family of Nair gift.’
This is followed by associate introduction to her mother, as IAAS Mahalakshmi Menon, the 2009-2014 Principal General controller and father as Krishna Menon operating in Geneva with the United Nations.
The groom was introduced as Nakul Prasad, WHO belonged to a revered Nair caste family, whose father PN Prasad is that the chief head at a bank in urban center.
The announcement claims that the marriage was conducted in complete accordance with the normal Nair wedding customs. Karayogams or the localised Nair-governing organisations were gift from the edges of each the parties to solemnise the marriage. Thiruvananthapuram Chettikulangara Sridevi Nair Karayogam was gift from the bride’s facet, and Chennithala Shanmuga Vilasa NSS (Nair Service Society) was gift from the groom’s facet.
There was additionally a quick mention concerning the reception and also the girl’s make-up performer, Renju Renjimar – whose name indeed stands out owing to the absence of a Nair thereto.
Even all the opposite data provided had a casteist tinge thereto, and whether or not you register the names and details of the marriage or not, there's no likelihood you’d not end reading the ad while not knowing that it absolutely was a high-caste Nair wedding all told respects! In today’s day and age, this ad is testament to the type of duality in society and also the deep-seated social evils that persist, returning to the surface typically throughout such ancient customs as a wedding ceremony.
What is minacious concerning such casteist ideologies, particularly once it involves weddings, is however some individuals tend to associate any negative incident with not following caste rules. Take the case of N Panchapakesan, founder, city Sai Sankara Matrimonials, WHO wrote a heavy post on the murder of S Swathi, a Chennai-based tekki, locution however had she chosen to come with a ‘pure Brahmin boy’ as opposition a purportedly lower-caste person through a social media web site, things may have figured out otherwise.
In the case of this wedding announcement, the maximum amount as we’re happy that such a ‘perfect alliance’ has been fashioned and also the newlyweds would continue to measure a splendidly happy life along, we have a tendency to hope families – and also the society at giant – realises and acknowledges that the wedding would work additional owing to the 2 people concerned than the caste they are available from or the Nair rituals through that they were wed.
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