Carat is the new Carrot!

I don’t need a ring or a license, or a spectacular white dress. It’s not marriage so much, or at all really, that matters. It’s the promise.

Nora Roberts

“Indian arranged marriage system” has always been in the limelight while its guided by innumerable materialistic factors like money, status, power and family. Adding on to the list is the new entry and a heavy one this time, being the “carat of the solitaire ring”. Even if we don’t say it aloud, one of the most important deciding factors in a marriage negotiation is the “the carat” of the ring which the couple will exchange. If we think about it, out of all the “x” number of factors which make a part of the discussions , the value of the ring is now on high priority. Well, there are reasons which are unsaid and unheard of which we would like to openly discuss.

The engagement ring is a symbol of status.

It is no longer a sign of promise, love and companionship. It has broadened its value to being a symbol which determines ones spending power and the financial status as well. In the Indian society, where everything related to marriage is not about the couple anymore but it is more of how the society perceives, the ring is also a part of the same “decoration”.

The big size of the ring should ideally be a product of immense love but its more commonly a declaration of a bundle of compromises, negotiations and deals which are conveniently kept undercover. Sometimes, the main set of negotiation in the marriage discussions is based on the carat of the ring. If it is not satisfactory, then the the engagement could be called off! Such is the power of a solitaire!

Is the carat of the solitaire more important than a lifetime of happiness ?

It is absurd how we have replaced an element of love and promise with a piece of metal representing nothing more than fake materialism and a shallow promise of happiness.

In today’s era, love can be compromised with a bag of money and one will give no second thought. Gone are the days when love and loyalty was an unspoken gift given mutually by the couple when they agreed to being committed to each other. Now, things have to speak and they need to be “loud” and “clear” . It should be loud enough so that it speaks for itself and puts a seal on the mouth of the questioning society. A five-carat ring with an excellent cut, clarity and colour can make up for anything under the sun.

But do we ask ourselves, whether the compromise is worth it ?

In some cases, It won’t be right to say that just because she is wearing a big ring, she might be compromising on other factors. Sometimes, it could also be a secondary factor when the power of love is greater than the power to prove something to the society. Well, ideally that should be the case and the size of the ring should be directly proportional to the promise to make this relationship as lustrous and beautiful as the ring itself.

Are we giving something much more than what we are getting ?

Unfortunately, we want to picture a rosy image to the society first and then fulfil some alternate motives which are far more important than a promise to create a blissful journey of a lifetime.