Haryana to Kerala

Of >the three letters (June 18) in response to the article, “ >Coming south in search of a bride ” (June 17), it was only the writer from Bengaluru who has rightly pointed out that the article sounds more like “a generalisation of some rare and curious information without subjecting it to sound and scientific analysis”.

It is a fact that most people in Kerala are enterprising and adventurous. It is perhaps the only State still where matriarchy is in vogue. In short, the women there have high aspirations. When this is the case, it is hard to believe that women from Kerala are getting married to men from Haryana. The subject does need to be researched again.

G. Swaminathan,

Chennai

If this is the case with Kerala, the State with the highest literacy ratio, then what can we expect the situation to be in the other States? The article shows that literacy has not been able to change the mindset of people. Even today, the parents of a girl believe that marriage is what will bring lifelong security and happiness to their daughter. Instead, parents should help their daughters be strong enough to face life’s many adversities.

Alka Meher,

Raipur, Chhattisgarh

With a gender ratio of 879 females for each 1,000 males, it is no surprise that men from Haryana have to travel far and wide in search of a bride, which also shows the general mindset in that State — of not treating women with respect. It is disappointing and disheartening to read that women from Kerala, who I consider to be independent, strong and with an innate feminist ideology, are now so intoxicated by the idea of marriage that they are ready to accept men from a State which can easily regarded to be ‘anti-women’. Women must be enabled to find their identity outside the institution of marriage. Male dominance over every aspect of a woman’s life will subside only with women’s empowerment at the grass-root level. In this, Kerala can set an example.

Anjna Parameswaran,

New Delhi