Open Letter

To our parents, grandparents, guardians and well-wishers,

When we were born in this free country, we inherited certain rights; these rights were, at times, contradictory to the customs and beliefs which have been passed down from generation to generation. We have a right to live, a right to practice any religion, a right to make our own decisions and most importantly- right to equality. Through these rights, the law-makers did not mean to offend you, or create a legion of young rebels. They simply wanted to empower every single one of us; to give us the power to rise above the petty social and religious diktats which are enforced upon us. These people were the true foreseers of our country. 

These fundamental rights were taught to us not during or just-after birth, but in the educational institutions in which you enrolled us, spending your hard earned money; a premier establishment which promises to make a man out of your boy and a lady out of your girl. These preparatory organisations never distinguished between the young minds on the basis of man-made divisions like caste, creed, religion, social strata et cetera. We were always treated as one and the same, and were taught to treat everyone else as equals too. During those young days, our minds were not poisoned to differentiate, not even by you all. We had friends of all colour, caste, religion and of the other sex. And this was always encouraged. 

The hypocrisy started surfacing when we became matured enough and old enough to take our own decisions. We saw the dark side of the moon when we were standing on the crossroads of life where we had to choose a life-partner for ourselves. Suddenly, the legacy of choosing a spouse of the same caste, religion and creed became a thing of utmost importance; for the sake of the family name, for the sake of the social stigma which will be faced by the family and for the sake of the purity of the lineage which is to follow. The freedom which was allowed to us all our lives became the biggest point of emotional blackmail, “Clearly, if we knew this is what the freedom will cost us one day, we would have been sterner and stricter during your adolescent age!”

Why did you even spend so much on educating and freeing our minds if you were planning to cut off our wings with your own hands one day? Why did you read to us the stories of all the great men and women whom the world remembers for their acts of valor to go against all the social norms? Why did you liberate us to one day lock us in the same cell in which you were imprisoned years ago by your parents, grandparents or guardians?

The secret to a happy life is to be with people who make you happy, and I do not think being with a partner of the same caste and religion guarantees that happiness. Let us make our own mistakes and break the age-old tradition. 

Remember the time when toilets attached to the houses were considered impure? Ridding that age-old notion turned out to be very beneficial, did it not?

Yours Humbly,