Drop of hope..

The sudden rain this evening that hardly wet our lands and hearts! But thanks to the additional winds you brought along - we have to sweep our front porches now! grump.

Child Marriages, still?

Between waiting for my husband to come downstairs for breakfast and finishing my morning tea, I opened up the paper. When I read the paper I scan the first page for anything but the words 'Sonia, congress, M.Karunanidhi, Raja, 2G' these days. Anything else is acceptable. Well, the first article that caught my eye was the the one about the rumor that Dr.Abdul Kalam died in the Coimbatore Military Hospital and how Shobaa De had already posted a condolence message on Twitter. I laughed for a minute. Sometimes Shobaa De needs to really wait for the news rather than hurry to be the 'first' one always! Seriously!

Scanned through the next page and there it was - 'Ask the Cop' section. Ask the Cop is a section allows people of Coimbatore to question and interact with Sylendra Babu, the city commissioner of police. Land problems, dowry harassment, gunda trouble - anything from the commissioner. I personally think this is an amazing way to reach people and tell them where to go when something went wrong.

Just below this section was another article that featured child marriages. Apparently, 22 child marriages were stopped in the Coimbatore district in the past one year. That line made me shiver. When I got married last year (I was 23), my friends in Google thought THAT was child marriage. And here I'm reading about a 14 year old girl who was forced into marrying her elder sister's husband because her sister could not bear the 'fruit of the family!' What rubbish! When I was 14 I was riding a bicycle every evening and watching The Popeye Show and grumbling about how TNT cuts off most of the show to start at 9pm! And here they are forcing a kid to marry her sister's husband. What kind of a sicko is that guy anyway! I was furious.

Didn't they stop Sati and child marriages long back? Aren't we in a world where parents wait for their daughter to finish college and work till they found her an 'America mappilai' and send her off at the Peelamedu airport? Either I've been away from home too long or ignorant. I choose ignorant, and the first one also. Both true.


Wow, child marriages. Still. Hmm. Going back to the article, the little girl's friends gave her the commissioner's number and she called! She spoke to Mr.Sylendra Babu and the police stopped this ridiculous wedding and took the girl to school where she wrote her final exams. Relief. I felt better when I read that. But I couldn't help wondering about what would have happened if she hadn't called. Man, that kid would have borne the 'fruit of the family' and if she couldn't then her husband would probably be looking for another younger sister if any. If you cannot have a child, go to a fertility clinic. Don't go sister shopping in your wife's house! What a prick!


Its good to know how kids are aware of what's right and wrong. At that age many wouldn't understand that impact it would have on their lives later. If I were this little girl, I would thank those wonderful friends and take them with me lifelong!

And all you men out there marrying chunnus and munnus, wait till I get my Kiran Bedi hands on you!