Twenty-eight-year-old Rajesh married 18-year-old Kaushila Gautam, raised in an orphanage in Itahari, on Thursday. The marriage ceremony was simple. [break]
The marriage between Rajesh, who has been running a cosmetic shop since completing his SLC, and Kaushila, who got trained as a beautician after she finished the ninth grade, was arranged by the Marwari Sewa Samiti (MSS). The cost of the marriage ceremony was also borne by MSS.
Gaurishanker Agrawal, the chairman of MSS, said the marriage between the two started taking shape last Tihar when Rajesh saw Kaushila in a bhailo (a cultural program) in Dharan.
When MSS made a proposition for the marriage to Gita Gautam, who runs the orphanage, she accepted without thinking twice. “They sought my go ahead for the marriage, and said the youth only wanted the girl and nothing else. I immediately accepted the proposal,” Gautam said.
Kaushila was found by police on a riverbank when she was one-year-old. She had been living in the orphanage ever since.
This is the second time a youth from the Marwari community has married a girl from the orphanage. Last year, one Damodar Rathi, married Laxmi Gautam, who also grew up in the orphanage.
During the marriage ceremony of Rajesh and Kaushila, invitees were full of praise for the couple for doing away with the traditional evil of dowry. The most praise came from people belonging to the Marwari community.
Manju Rathi of Biratnagar praised the step taken by Marwari youths for social change. “Youths have started breaking away with the ugly tradition of taking dowry. This trend will eventually benefit women,” she said.
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