Arranged Indian Marriages vs JEE

"Boy should get married before 28 and girl before 25, else it creates problems"

"We spent 19 Lakhs on our daughter's dowry and 2 Lakhs on the marriage functions"

"I wish to save my hair till the day i get married, I don't mind loosing it the very next day"

These are some of the things I have heard off-late from people around and it makes me wonder how we Indians think about marriages. Surprisingly even in the 21st century, Marriage is not an institution, its a "Race", every community has that most eligible bachelor of the talking town who has a 7 figure package, US-visa and that 35 year-old looking face on a 26 year old birth certificate because he slogged it off getting up to that level. Every community also has that 26 year old brat who is yet to prove himself and is taunted by Uncle's about what he is really up to these days!?.

Arranged Marriages today can be easily quoted as When the boy's family meets the girls family, the boy's family likes the girl's family and they live happily ever after. Now I am really not against marriages or arranged marriages, my point is simple,"Why create a race?".

Yes I call it a race, just like IIT-JEE or AIEEE exams where seats are allocated based on rank and quota. Similarly in arranged marriages for Boys, your Annual Package is your Rank and your caste and family wealth are your quota. For girls your caste and family wealth is your rank while your annual package and beauty is your quota.
 
Consequences of the Race:
A recent survey states that over the past four years the divorce rate in Delhi, has almost doubled and is projected to be 32000 by the year 2020. In 2013, Bangalore, the IT hub of India it was recorded that 3,246 cases of divorce were filed in the court that pertain to the IT sector exclusively. It has been estimated Mumbai has shot up to 7,138 in 2014 while cities that are acknowledged for their cultural richness and social values like Kolkata and Chennai, are no less behind. Agro based states like Punjab and Haryana are now seeing an increase of 150% of divorce rate since the last decade. Kerala, known to be the most literate state has experienced an increase of divorce rate by 350% in the last 10 years. 
Source: www.indidivorce.com


The reason is simple, we have become more dynamic, financially stable and less tolerant towards so called "CRAP" in a relationship. Women have evolved now, they do not marry after doing matriculation in "Household" which was a norm 50 years back, a modern woman wishes to have a husband who can give her time, is sensitive and responsible. In 2015, you cannot confine a woman to household chores 365 days a year and expect her to be happy.

The problem i feel lies in the search criteria for marriages, no Indian would tick on the "Sportsman" occupation section for searching groom/bride, horoscope and being a manglik is given more priority than what the actual person really is. Ask any sensible astrologer and he will tell you Horoscope and Nav Grahas(9 planets) are just an Indicator, it doesn't define what the person really is, it just indicates.

You are first judged based on your religion, caste, language, package, family background, Veg-Nonveg and then other superficial characteristics such as Complexion, height, hair, smoke/alcohol and to add cherry on top of it if the boy/girl touches elders feet he is considered having Values(Sanskari Dude). Marriage is supposed to be a connect, a connection of two souls that vow by the holy fire-god to live together and respect each other forever till eternity. If marriages were really made in heaven, God would definitely not try to match such stuff.