Vadhu Var Melava

The basic work of Dharti Foundation is to educate the girl child and make her self reliable . But practical experience showed that the surviving parent was more interested in marrying of the child as soon as she cleared the 10th or 12th exam . When we put up the proposal of educating the children at least up to graduation they say that if we teach girls so much how are we to find eligible grooms for them. But the actual scenario was much different . Most of the eligible bachelors who were doing farming were not able to find good bride . Even the father of the bride prefer a groom with a steady income in form of any salary or job ,even if it is very low paying. He was preferring steady life compared to the hardwork of the farmer. This prompted us to carry out a first ever gathering of eligible brides and grooms specifically only farmers. This was carried out on 17th June at Satana which is around 70 km from Nashik. The basic preparations were of around 300 grooms, but we got the tremendous response of more than 1200 grooms and only 15 brides,which was a big eye opener. The farmer grooms were ready to marry even inter caste brides. This was very path breaking in the traditional society of the village . This was result of desperation which was seen while speaking with them .This encouraged us further to forcefully implement or take up the agenda of educating the girl child. We have even promised to sponsor 5 marriages who follow certain principles laid down by us ,like not taking any dowry, there will be no extravagant expenses on honouring relatives , Limited number 100 total that is 50 relatives from each side will attend the marriage . The entire expense of the marriage will be Borne by Dharti Foundation. This is a trial phase and if we are successful in getting a good response ,a path breaking trend can be established.