Marriage has become a number one problem in a traditional society and in a non-traditional society, relationships, replaces it. In my US tours, I came across many women who never wanted to marry or become unwed mothers but wanted a male companion for their sexual enjoyment. In India, we have not reached that stage yet but looking at young girls in modern colleges with their convention-defying attitudes, we will have a small percentage of such women very soon in our society. Modern education, economic independence and western influence, where marriage is a ruined institution and divorce rates are very high.

The marriage scene has undergone a radical change and for a modern girl who is career-minded, marriage is a secondary consideration. The marriageable young men need not debate it but must accept it as a fact of life and adjust.

There has been urgent need to look at marriage which involves at least more than forty crore Indians astrologically for modern India. We must openly acknowledge now.

Dowry remains a major problem in Indian society and even Muslims and Christians are demanding it. This persisting evil continues because law makers and law enforcers keep it alive as they themselves demand dowry in lavish marriage of their own marriageable young men. Like all hypocrisies of our society, so many swear to end evil of dowry but do all that they can do, to keep it alive. Dowry deaths are worse than Sati, which happened once in a decade.

In view of this, marriage reforms will be absent and there will be stray cases of non conformist acts of girls and boys to defy conventions and traditions and to marry according to their own choice ignoring caste and community, even the religion, one is born into.