The great Indian Marriage

One of my colleague had posted about marriage in his blog - and was inviting comments. This triggered a long chain of thought process and the comment ended up being as long as the post itself.

The actual post: http://sivasamysubramanian.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-marriage-2-minutes-piece-of-paper.html
My Comments:

About 'A piece of paper': The first question is 'Is it a superstition ?'.
If you belive it is just a superstition, then it is no longer a superstition because you no longer belive in it. If you think it is not a superstition, then again you dont have to be bothered because it is no longer just a superstition.

I would consider this as the most ancient scientific data analytics process. With today's algorithms we can predict when the next earthquake will happen, we can predict when the next
tsunami will happen, when the stock market will crash and rebound. When all these can be predicted with reasonable accuracy, why not the marital life which involves only 2 entities and 9 variables?

Ages and ages of analytics with 9! x 9! combination of squares have provided statistically significant similarities which can be extrapolated to arrive at reasonable predictions. While the guidances are there, there can always be exceptions and that is when the question of superstition needs to be revisited.

About 'Dealings': Economics teaches us that trading of goods helps in finding the true economic value for both the parties. If the bride and groom are considered as commodities in the marriage market, each having a market value (based on looks, education etc) it is only natural to bargain for the best price based on demand and supply.

But again economics teaches us that there is something called intrinsic value which is very different from market value and is something that does not diminish so quickly over time.
While the market value is applicable during the trading season, one should realise that the intrinsic value is what one is left with after the purchase is over.

Hope all the 'rational' people realise this soon.

About '2 Minutes' and 'Masks': Shakespeare once said
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts....."