One of the issues that always stir up the Indian community is the dowry system. Even though years have passed since the Indians came to Malaysia, some of the culture still remains as it is being passed through generations. It is the inheritance that will never go missing. As such is the dowry system. To be truthful, it is not a bad culture. The real purpose of dowry is actually an emergency fund set up by the father or the brother of the bride. It functions as a sum of money to help the bride in case of abandonment or the death of the husband. But now, if the bride does not provide enough dowries, it becomes a cause for her death. This is how a good thing turns bad.
This was the case in the stories “Everything’s Arranged” and “Question of Dowry”. First of all, in the story of “Everything’s Arranged”, the dowry system is mistreated for real. When Devanayaki’s parents “assumed” that Devanayaki is in love with Johny, the Chinese boy, they decide to stop Devanayaki’s education in university. But earlier, they have promised to bridegroom’s family that she will be an undergraduate. So, to overcome this problem, they increase the bribery or so called “dowry” 20,000 more as compensation. This is absolutely something that should not happen in the first place. A bride is not a property to be sold and if it is void in any way, people get to sell it in some kind of garage sale or anything like that. This is the kind of mentality of the people who does not consider the heart of a human or more likely when it comes to a young girl.
For the second story “Question of Dowry”, Sivasothie is clearly treated as a property by both her own family and the bridegroom’s family. Just because Mr.Ramachandran could not pay for the necklace, the marriage is called off. Even the bridegroom did not consider about this and Mrs.Ramachandran acted as though she does not care about anything. No one considered Sivasothie’s feelings. All she had to do is nod her head whenever they want. All this is the consequence of mistreatment of the dowry system.
The examples above are how the dowry system has been mistreated. It all comes down to the tradition that has been followed. There might be some changes made here and there. Yet, in my opinion, the root cause would be the first step of inheriting unnecessary culture.
