Dear Synaptic,
                                Your point of view, regarding marriage as a matter of convenience is well taken.But I don't understand  maria_m ,when she opens another angle , by stating-  to another's inconvenience, so long marriage is taken to mean  a consenting social union between two adults. 

                                 Dennis has a point though, I do not consider it menacing. I also note  that you  appreciate her point. But to come to specifics  

1 .You have referred to a publication dated 1963 by Kannan on Intercaste Marriages. Has any body published any authoritative paper on those marriages that were consummated when this revolutionery concept (at that point of time) was propounded and practiced? So their lives and the lives of their off-springs can provide some guidance to the present society.? 

 2.  One important factor you have not mentioned in your blog. In the present society  such marriages are not widely prevalent though the proportion is much greater than it was before, due to the factors that you have already dealt with. Caste does continue to be one of the prime and single largest factor in any marriage. The support  the married obtain from their kith and kin ( elders and parents and  wide circle of relatives and friends), the fear of having to justify  any irrational behaviour by one of the spouses is a great sustainer  when the romance is nascent and the boat of  union hits a rock as in all marriages. Having no body to justify to or explain or restrain and counsel  the number of cases for divorce  that hits the courts are alarming especially when the marriage is inter-caste and with-out parental consent and support.

3. From gleaning the matrimonial advts. on a sunday, one can not miss the point  that the parent of an off-spring desires that the groom or bride they are seeking be of the higher of the castes of either parent or a significant statement is included that their ward is brought up in the culture of the higher caste or that the lower caste member of the family is either divorced or living seperately. This can not  be taken as a general statement, but is indicative of the trend  and experience of  people who married inter-caste some 25 years back.  From the age bracket of the prospective bride or groom and the frequent repetition of the same advts. also disclose, the number of acceptors in our current society  for this form of marriage is still to multiply even after 50 years. 

4. These points are just in addition to your points of view and do not in any way dispute them.                   

marriage is mostly a matter of convenience...for those people who consider it as such, the bonds are not very tight....

mayaonline
Glad that you found something to chew on.

Regards

dmrsekhar
Thanks for that cent per cent!

Regards

chandrika radhakrishnan
Thats right, you have paraphrased what I wanted to say succintly. Glad you found the post ineteresting. Thank you!

Regards

thot provoking.... fodder for thot :)

You are cent per cent right. As far as I know inter caste marriages in the same class are very successful. That is the need of the hour too. DMR Sekhar.               

Good topic , synaptic Muddle... Yes, marraige is a matter of convenience for both the parties and anyone who feels differently must be in minority. In this matter of convenience it would help if the parties are of the same caste hence in olden times it was more prevalently practised. In inter-caste marriages the parties need to be more mature; only then I feel the marriage has more likelihood to succeed.
chandrika

denice_menace
I am glad that you agree that one cannot take a rational stand against inter-caste marriages. You are not against inter-caste marriages, but feel that is there is nothing wrong in in-caste marriages. As I have made clear, I too have nothing against in-caste marriages. I think that is a fair mount of concurrence and we should leave it that.

The reasons as to why you think caste-marriages should be promoted more than inter-caste marriages, and the arguments you put in favor of continuing / reverting to some aspects of a caste system is where we differ in our views.

I have little add to what I have already said in the comments section. I hold different views about the relevance and ethical implications of a inheritance based caste system. I am going to leave it that because this debate is becoming incresingly tangential.
And d_m my friend, please don'r sigh like that. Remember, blogging is meant to be fun!

Cheers

Thanks MayaAnil. Glad you found it to be of interest.

Regards