Biodata for Marriage

Unquestionably it was not the first time I have heard the word biodata when my mom asked for a copy of it. I got amazed or will be better to say shocked. I could not even predict why she needs it. So, politely I replied her including some smiles,” Mom I already have a good job and I am satisfied with it and you are not getting a job at this age even if you go with my bio-data. ” She replied, “There are some social uses of bio-data too. I am searching a life partner for you and boy’s family needs your bio-data.”

For fixing daughter’s marriage girl’s side should approach boy’s house, a culture of Terai. Needless to say, as we have heard, the dowry gets fixed there but I have heard these days lots of marriages are even dowryless. I was aware of all that but using biodata for marriage purpose was completely a new concept to me. When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle got married, then girl’s picture was all that a family takes to show the boy side. From when since bio-data started? No idea at all!

I chatted to some of my newly married girlfriends from Janakpur, “do girl’s family really carry their bio-data too if they are going for a marriage proposal?” They replied me quite easily with the same answer, “Yes it’s been since years.” I realized I am the obsolete one, having no idea of current marriage trends. I recalled all the marriages I have been especially during the fixing but could not find a single bio-data in my memory. You can say my mind was bio-dataless.

So it was my turn to print a new copy of my bio-data. In the recent job system bio-data word is totally absent, definitely, every company demands your CV along with a cover letter. So I just thought to replace it with my recent CV. I wrote my personal details including my academic qualifications, facebook link, and blog address as well. Now I got confused, should I write my job experience there or not along with the company name? Am I supposed to write my technical skills like C, C++, Java? Should I include my extra-curricular achievements? Should I include my training and participations or not? What would the girl’s write if they demand a cover letter? And the most confusing part, what would be the subject of the cover letter? Last but not the least should I write about the references too, if yes then who would be the one? And what about the recommendation letter? How would be these things judged? Some of my confusions.

My confusions led me to analyze how time have changed. Ten years ago a girl’s beauty and her father’s duty to pay dowry were the factors that could only be the cause of marriage. But these days they care about a girl’s education, her ability, her skills and more that she has achieved yet. So, recently I have attended several arrange marriages at Janakpur and they are completely dowry-less and probably bio-data would have been one among the possible factors. Marriage system is getting changed. Even MA sociology syllabus of TU talks about Terai then it’s regarding the only dowry. So, their perceptions should be changed. Neither all the marriages in Terai are dowry based nor Terai is all about dowry. I am hopeful, someday all the marriage relations in our society would be based on compatibility between going to be partners and definitely, in-laws would be proud of their new member’s bio-data and would help her to make it better.