Yeah, we do BUY DAUGHTERS!

Yeah, we do BUY DAUGHTERS, but it really hurts to sell our own little girl to someone else!! Isn't it? Why this hypocrisy?

The pain in her dad's eyes while bidding her good bye, brought this sudden bitterness in my thoughts. I wish I could hold his hands and convince him saying, "Don't worry! Your daughter is very happy with her married life and enjoying it to the best." Alas! I couldn't, because I was well aware of the bitter truth, the trauma that his daughter was going through.

I had just come out of Gurudwara [a place of worship] on a bright Sunday morning. I saw one of my old acquaintances, whom I lovingly call 'Uncle', holding a few currency notes in his hands. He was trying to convince his daughter 'Simran'* [*name changed to protect identity]. He wanted her to take that money from him. Uncle had tears in his eyes and was silent. Silence speaks more than words and especially, when it is full of pain and agony.
Simran, an amazingly beautiful girl now looked like a dead body moving with numbness; hiding her real emotions, as if she had exprienced so much already that she forgot to experience any more emotions.
I could feel a sudden ache in my heart on seeing this pretty girl who was always so full of life, in such a sad state. Simran got married to a well-to-do businessman about 3 years ago. Her family couldn't stop 'bragging' with proud. Her parents thought that she had got the best match in the town despite her being from a lower middle class family having limited sources of sustenance. Simran was on cloud nine and felt that she couldn't have been luckier than this. She got the good match as she was 'extremely beautiful'.
The happiness and charm of this marriage were very short-lived. Simran's dream of a happy married life and her parents' dream of a blissful life for their daughter came down crumbling when the dowry demands from her in-laws suddenly increased.
Simran was being deprived of all the respect that she deserved. She had to bear sarcastic comments on her getting dressed up nicely. She was given the logic that she isn't supposed to wear good clothes as she couldn't bring much wealth to them, her in-laws. She was being questioned on her every move out of the house. She was treated like a maid when she deserved to be treated like a daughter, a wife and a human being who has a heart and a soul - A heart that feels the joy, a heart that feels the pain, a heart that beats. But how could 'heartless' people, her in-laws understand that?
My thought process suddenly got interrupted on hearing Simran say to her father, "Papa, please keep this money with you. Trust me, I am very happy with my in-laws. You use this money for your treatment and stop worrying about me".
After saying this, Simran held her father's hands and directed him to put the money back in his pockets.
What Simran's father said after that shook me to the core! He said, "Simran beta [daughter], my medicine is YOU. Don't lie to your papa. I can see the tears that you are hiding from me. Let me PAY THIS PRICE to your in-laws so that I can buy back your smiles from them!".
I felt so helpless, could feel myself holding my tears on seeing this plight. However, a strong statement from Simran helped me be at little ease. She bid good bye to her dad saying, "Papa, we are not so weak that we'll let people use us for their greedy motives. I shall fight for myself and win this battle rather than giving up to their greed. Wish me luck and give your blessings."

Let us all wake up before we are bound to learn this lesson after selling our own daughters to these greedy monsters!