Sunlight seeped through innumerable circular holes on the walls heating up the room at Volontariat Community Centre on a Sunday morning when men and women hurriedly walked into the room with applications and sat down on chairs orderly arranged behind two raised platforms on both the sides.
Elders wearing delegate badges guided the nearly 100 men and women from across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, who had gathered to find their prospective brides and grooms. Pondicherry Association of the Deaf in Volontariat Community Centre organised the Matrimonial Swayamvaram for the Deaf – 2017 at Uppalam in Puducherry on Sunday.
Swift hand movements replaced murmurs as they communicated tirelessly with each other for nearly an hour till the chief guest arrived. Panakalakshmi, who had come all the way from Tiruchi with her two sons, was seen talking loudly with a woman sitting in front of her. “My elder son is aged 37 and younger one is 35 years old. Both are deaf. I have come here looking for brides for both my sons. We have not yet submitted the forms to the organisers as the number of girls arrived here is less,” she says.
A bespectacled tall woman, Panakalakshmi is a native of Theni who settled down in Tiruchi as her children could find job only in the textile industry there. “One is a cutter and another one is a tailor,” says the mother, who has travelled to Chengalpet, Villupuram, Chennai and many districts across Tamil Nadu to find a bride for her son.
‘Fewer women’
“I have come to Puducherry now. I was here even last year. Like the previous year, there is less number of women this year too. I do not know what the reason is but in the last five years the number of women attending the Swayamvaram is decreasing. We could not get our children educated as we were poor. Now, women are demanding educated grooms. I wish we could have at least provided education to our children. My sons are getting old and I do not know if I will be able to find a bride for them. Still, I will keep trying. There should be someone who will marry my sons,” she said.
After the Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy inaugurated the event, A. Arulappan, public relations officers, The Pondicherry Association of the Deaf, stood on the raised wooden platform place in a corner of the room and drew the attention of the participants by raising his arm. “This is the 10th consecutive year of Matrimonial Swayamvaram for the Deaf. Many differently abled find it difficult to find brides and grooms. We are creating an opportunity for such people to meet. After we introduce each person, anyone interested in marrying them can exchange numbers and later meet up and decide on their wedding. In 2016, nearly 10 couples got married,” he said.
