Bride burning and dowry may look bad, but are an integral part of India.

I don't feel like dowry system and bride burning should belong to our culture. Eventhough measures are taken to bring an end to the dowry system, families in many parts of India consider that as a social custom demanding dowry from the bride. There are many cases where the marriages were cancelled as the brides' family was not able to produce the dowry demanded. Even if all the criteria are satisfied such as matching of horoscopes, family status and all, dowry issue would become a crucial factor to decide whether the marriage should happen.

The society keeps on changing from time to time. And we have to keep amending the ritual's. We need to see things in a broader perspective. There is always a reason behind a certain ritual.

For example, bride burning used to take in those times and in those places where a woman was completely dependent on her husband. Once her husband dies life becomes hopeless for her.

She has to face all the pains given to her by the society, and re-marriage was not allowed. A married woman had no right to live without her husband. That was the mentality, once upon a time.

Same thing goes for dowry too. But it is not that they are integral part of India. There is no mention of such practices in our holy scriptures. We cannot just cling to old rituals in changing times. It will do more harm than good.