What was supposed to be a ‘harmless’ advertisement for a matrimony event, turned out to be one of the most startling and trending topic to hit the country today.
Wednesday morning saw the front page of the Bengaluru edition of The Hindu carry an advertisement which covered a quarter of its front page. The advertisers, Young Achievers Matrimony (YAM), were organising a matrimony event at the uber luxurious Leela Palace and were calling out to probable grooms and brides to register with them.
All fine till here! But the moment one goes through the details, the eyes are left wide open and the mouth gasping for fresh air.
The advertisement reads somewhat like this –
The Grand National Young Achiever’s Matrimony Meet only invites ‘young achievers’ who are:
Successful entrepreneurs
Eminent professionals (IAS/IPS, IRS, Scientists, etc.)
Youngsters graduated from top universities (IIT, IIM, CA, etc.)
Highly recognized young achievers
Ultra rich families
Celebrities and VVIP families
And…
Beautiful girls
A fine example of our socio-economic mindset, which sadly, refuses to leave our diaspora. The advertisement wrongs at three basic levels.
- Segregating education. Where an IIM, IIT, CA or an IAS are the only ‘salable’ options
- They need to pat themselves for creating, yet again, the already existent rich-poor gap. Requirements like ultra-rich families, celebrities – where are we headed?
- The finale takes the cake! Beautiful girls. A sad irony of our clouded thought process even in the 21st century.
In times where India is battling women safety and security, gender balance, equal pay and respect as the main issues; these aspects draw us back to where we started – rock bottom!
Professional or academic achievement is yet again equalled to family wealth. Ultra-rich families as a clause itself negates what achievers otherwise should be proud of.
The event also has a high registration fees attached. Rs 10,000 from young achievers and Rs 25,000 from high net worth families.
YAM was founded only five months back and has already held one event – a matrimony meet for doctors on July 1st, 2018 at Sheraton Grand in Bengaluru. The man behind this concept is Sreeram N. According to a quote by him, around 300 plus doctors attended the event, which was a big success.
He also says that the idea of putting the clause of beautiful girls was suggested by one such attendee. Hence, they went ahead with it.
As per last reports, because of the build-up, the organisers have decided to publish an apology letter in The Hindu for the error and have cancelled other advertisements that were consecutively to get published.
Hopefully, the event should get cancelled soon too. India, right now, needs matured, sustainable and progressive attitudes. Advertisements and events like these only highlight our social framework, which, unfortunately, is still caught up in rudimentary mindsets.