Page 51 - Vasant Bahar

In search of my life partner

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was 29 years old. Though I had a government job,
I I did not have a big house and stock of grains in
home. Many of the marriage proposals denied me
because of my family responsibilities. Finally I went to
Miraj to see a girl for my marriage. I liked her but we

have a huge age difference of 12 years. My father-in-law
Vitthal Tatoba Sutar had already told me about their poor

economic status. My in-laws place Kavathe Mahankal
is a drought prone area. My wife had 4 sisters and

2 brothers and hence he could not fulfill our expectations
about a dowry and hence my marriage did not get fi xed
with her. Later, my cousin Sudhir took an initiative and

he fixed my marriage without any other expectations.
But, my uncle was opposed to it. And he did not come
to the ceremony.
I feel, one should not demand for dowry in the
marriage. It is not the duty of a girl’s parents to fulfi ll
all the expectations of the groom’s family. That was
the time when I decided to make my children well-
educated human beings and not to take any dowry
from them. Surprisingly, it became the reality. My both
the daughter-in-laws are well-educated and married to
my sons without any dowry.
My in-laws have seen the scars on both of my elbows

VASANT BAHAR / 43