JOIN USRiver cuts off marriage proposal
But a small river, not very far from here, has proved to be a bane for the villagers; especially for the youth as it has proved to be the biggest hurdle in the way of marriage proposals. Reason: There is no overbridge on the river and the visitors have to cross the river by a boat. A visit to Barchanda village, barely 70 km from the state capital, remains cut off during the monsoon season and even after that as even boats do not ply in the swirling waters of the swollen Sai river.
“There are about 40 households in the village and a majority of men of the village are bachelors as there were simply no marriage proposals,” septuagenarian Ishwar Deen said.
“Who will want to marry off his daughter in this village...they (the girl’s parents) cannot even meet her in times of emergency during the monsoon season which lasted for four months,” he said.
A similar tale is told by Dhaniram, Ramphal, Shiv Sevak and Nihore, all in their late 30s. All of them are bachelors though they passed their 11th standard.
It is not that the boys of the village are suffering. A similar fate has befallen the girls of the village as well.
“People are reluctant to accept the marriage proposals the moment they come to know the name of the village,” Ishwardeen said.
“Many a time, the parents fix marriage of their daughters with someone, who is much older that them... there is no way out...we have to make some compromise,” he said.
It is not that the people of the village did not try to get a bridge built over the river. “The public representatives always assured us that the bridge will be built but nothing ever happened,” he said.
Block Development officer (BDO) A K Singh admits that the villagers had to face many problems owing to the lack of the bridge. He has promised that he will take up the matter with higher officials.