It was a matrimonial meet of a different kind. The young men came with a vow not to succumb to the social evil that is dowry, and the women had happiness written all over their faces.
The ninth consecutive ‘Swayamwara’, a matrimonial meet organised by Idon’tWant Dowry.com , at Bhaskara Auditorium at the B.M. Birla Science Centre on Sunday saw nearly 200 men and women participate.
Starting off on a dull note, the meet eventually saw participants turn up in big groups. Participants who registered voiced their partner preferences, while organisers made efforts to find a suitable match among those who turned up. Among the participants, 120 were men and the rest were women.
The objective of the meet was to help registered candidates find suitable matches and tie the knot without involving dowry, which, the organisers said, should be weeded out.
The initiative’s founder Satya Naresh said though there was no way one could be certain if any of the men registered with them would ask for dowry, or if the women would succumb to such demands.
“We cannot be sure if the participants agree on dowry after we facilitate their meet. If any of the parties comes back to us, we would suggest they lodge a complaint. However, before registering candidates for a meet, we enquire with them about dowry. Only if they assure us that they would not accept or ask for dowry, do we register them,” he said, adding that three couples among those who participated on Sunday, could possibly get hitched.