Promote marriage registration

Today I met a woman who took pride in calling a girl that she helped rehabilitate "daughter" to invite me to her wedding. It was an honour to have been invited and I assured my presence at the wedding.

I just couldn't resist myself from asking her more details on her daughter and what I heard was gut wrenching but it was heart warming to know that there are people who care enough to love those that are affected for no mistake of theirs. The girl in reference has suffered a lot but today she is looking forward to a brighter future.

I also asked the lady one more question and that is if she has registered the wedding? With all the pride she said "Of course" and continued saying "everything else comes only after the registration". That was quite refreshing.

I am particular about registering every marriage in India because it is the Supreme court of India directive to all the states that all weddings be registered. I do not have any ojbective data but personally I know of adults and children that are affected by not registering the wedding. Husband/ Father left the family and no one knows where he is and is also not there to support the children. I also know of families that have placed their children in homes for the economically disadvantaged children because they are unable to care for the kids. How unfortunate is that?? Here I can also see how a distressed mother can abandon her children when the spouse that she believed and trusted so much is not around to care for her and their child.

I see an important entitlement in registering a wedding. Registration of wedding can inculcate respect for one's responsibilities which in turn can help families to stay united. India also need to create a biometric national database as part of marriage registration because in spite of registration, there's a danger of an individual running away to another state and getting re-married.

Taking care of orphans in an institution is only a symptom of a problem that is solely created by irrsponsible adults. If only the problem is addressed at it's root, then to some extent, we can reduce the number of orphans or street children in India.

So, if you come across a bride next time, before you ask anything about the wedding (such as jewelry and clothing etc), ask her if she has registered the wedding. If she didn't, would you do India a favor? Tell her to run as fast as she can to register the wedding in her own future's best interest. It is such a simple task but has enormous implications, so please don't ignore.

If you agree, please pass this message around to as many people as you can and then I would love to hear what you have to say about this topic. Leave me a comment below.