Patidars cross Gujarat border in quest to find brides

SURAT: When Mahanta Pradhan from Kumpapada village of Ganjam district in Odisha came to Surat with his daughter Aarti, 23, and wife Mena on November 12, he didn't hope that his dreams of getting his daughter married to a decent boy would be realized so soon. Then he did not have enough to give Rs 3 lakh as dowry demanded by boys in his Kurmi Patel community back home.
During a three-day life partner selection fair held at Patidar Bhavan in Katargam he found a match for Aarti in Indravadan Gadhiya, a diamond worker. The couple will be married off on Wednesday.
Like Aarti there are other 21 girls from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh who will marry local boys in an interstate mass marriage ceremony organized by All India Patidar Samaj .
Patidar Samaj had organized the first such mass marriages of seven couples last year. This year community teams went to different states with video recordings of last year's function to inspire parents to come to Surat. A selection fair was organized from November 13 to 15 in which 22 matches were finalized. These couples will tie the knot on Wednesday at Patidar Bhavan in presence community leaders.
"We started this interstate mass marriage with dual purpose of improving male female ratio in Gujarat and to get rid of dowry system," said Mathur Savani who is a Padmashree awardee and a social worker. The 2011 census put the skewed male female ratio in Gujarat at 918 females per 1000 males.
"For those born after 1970, there are 25 lakh less women in the state when compared to males. Since many boys don't get a proper match we decided to go in for Patidar girls from other states," said Savani.
Every girl is adopted by foster parents in the city. "The idea of foster parents is to give a sense of security and belonging to the bride," said diamond baron Lalji Patel who has played a major part in organizing the event.