Recently I attended the marriage of my sister. My all cousin gathered together. We enjoyed a lot. We sang and danced together. Then in the morning ritual of the mehendi took place. All the girls and aunts put on the mehendi on their hands. In the evening we went to the boy’s house for the lady sangeet. Special invitation was given to us by them. Our whole team of brothers and sisters went there and we really enjoyed there. We all danced on the floor. Then near about 10 A.M we all came back home and took rest because next day was the wedding and we all wanted to look fresh.
Next day we all woke up at 5 and freshen up and wore the good clothes because the bangle ceremony was to take place. Then we all girls went to the parlour. They made us ready and we went to the hotel. But in the hotel, we all have to suffer from a problem. They started demanding for the dowry. Then all our happiness converted into sadness. Whole the environment became still. No voice was coming except the voice of chirping birds. My family tried to convince them but they were not listening the single word. At last my family has to give them what they wanted.
I was also standing there and was feeling helpless. I was not saying even a single word. I started hating myself after that because being an educated girl I did not take any step against it. After the marriage I cried a lot and started hating myself. For 2-3 weeks I did not even speak with anyone. I started spending most of my time alone. This started affecting my health. Then I realized that this whole thing was affecting my life badly and I challenged myself to get rid out of it.
One should never lose hopes in life. Then I shared my problem with a doctor and he counseled me. By doing this I again built my confidence. Now my concentration is more in studies than on anything else. I could have never shared about it to my family. If you consider that I am right, please comment.