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The institution of marriage as opposed to the relationship of love has always been a matter of convenience.

In the past when socioeconomic status was inexorably tied to an inherited caste system, a caste determined marriage was the most reliable way of ensuring a continuance of the lifestyle that the parties to marriage were born into and grown accustomed to. Caste determined occupation and therefore earning power. Caste determined social status and ones role in religious practice. Caste was therefore the most important determinant of lifestyle. With such clear differences between the castes, marriages between individuals of differing castes would expose them to widely different lifestyles that could potentially lead to marital discord. This is probably the reason why matching of caste emerged as a rule of the thumb to achieve marital compatibility.

In urban India, socioeconomic status is increasingly becoming independent of caste. Occupation is no longer a matter of caste-linked inheritance. Religious and cultural practices too are becoming more homogenous across the previously well delineated caste boundaries. Lifestyles are to a great extent determined by spending power and are influenced less by caste. In this emerging new social structure, convenience therefore lies in matching earning prowess which is now decreasingly determined by caste. Inter-caste marriages pose less of problems in terms of cultural compatibility and day to day interaction for we are all merging into a common culture.

The caste based marriage system evolved and was stable because at the heart of it was the fact that matching castes was equivalent to matching economic power, social status and cultural lifestyle. Now, in many cases, matching of caste in marriage is no longer essential for achieving such compatibility. What is not essential will not survive.

The institution of marriage was a matter of convenience and will remain so. It is the factors that determine convenience that have changed.

Synaptic Muddle

© Harsha Halahalli, 2008