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Synopsis
An old man thoughtfully sits beneath an enormous Banyan tree. His aged, broken appearance declares his misfortune and his fate to the world. A young man sits close, prodding him with questions. He discovers the old man’s grief stems from the dowry custom. This practice has mercilessly occupied his thoughts for seventy years and leaves him with deep wounds. One of the young man’s questions strikes a cord within his heart. “Was it worth observing this custom at the cost of robbing you of dignity and resources?”
The old man considers his own father’s dowry payments for six daughters. The affect was devastating. His middle class upbringing, his good education and the good times spent with his sisters are distant memories shattered by the debilitating effect of the dowry. The cost of fulfilling this tradition was too great!
As he looks across at the young man interviewing him, he wishes his father could hear the words this man was speaking. The words spoke truth about a custom that in his heart seemed so baseless. "Oh that my father had been alive to hear these words!" he moans, "We might have survived with our honor."
Jahangir Alam, the BCM Senior Program Producer interviewed the 84 year old man who was making clay pots in his village, his occupation since the family was forced into poverty because of the dowry custom. In vast regions of
In this context, Bengal Creative Media searches for progressive ways to address and alleviate destructive cultural practices and broken systems without disrupting the positive elements of Bengali culture.
