Dowry Calculator
DowryCalculator.com is a satirical website that parodies India's dowry tradition. According to Sify, “The calculator mocks the various factors that potential brides and grooms in the country have to consider in a traditional Indian marriage. The application requires one to fill in age, caste, profession, salary, father's occupation, skin tone (giving priority to fair skin and less importance to dark skin) and height among others to arrive at a whimsical "dowry rate" or dowry amount.”[1]
The website was launched on May 6, 2011 and went viral within a couple of hours of its release. Consequently, it was one of the top trending topics on Twitter India.[2][3] It also received more than half a million hits within a month of its launch.[4][5] Dedicated sardonically to 'all the match-making aunties of India', the website highlights how the younger generation of India has started rejecting the age-old custom of dowry and is even making a mockery of it. [6] In addition to mocking the dowry system, the application also satirizes some of the unhealthy obsessions of Indian society, such as IIT-ians, skin color, salary, and others. [7] Dowry Calculator also comments on how certain professions have traditionally been linked to higher dowry demands. [8]
The website was created by Tanul Thakur, an Indian engineer working in the United States.[9] TV9 (Telugu) news agency failed to grasp the sarcasm in Dowrycalculator.com and sought the intervention of the cyber crime police to ban the website.[10][11]
See also
- List of satirical news websites
References
- ↑ Sriram, Ashwin (18 May 2011). "A satire on weddings, dowry and 'match-making aunties'". Sify.
- ↑ Dechen, Tenzin (8 May 2011). "A net estimate". Deccan Chronicle. Bengaluru. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011.
- ↑ Bhutia, Lhendup (12 June 2011). "How much will your in-laws pay you?". Mid Day. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011.
- ↑ Mahale, Sneha (16 June 2011). "Satire app on dowry gets 5 lakh hits in a month". Hindustan Times. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012.
- ↑ Sharma, Vrinda (2 July 2011). "Now a website for dowry dealers". The Hindu. Chandigarh.
- ↑ Flock, Elizabeth (12 May 2011). "Dowry calculator pokes fun at Indian marriage tradition". The Washington Post.
- ↑ Wadhwani, Sita (June 2, 2011). "Dowry Calculator app: How much for an arranged marriage?". CNN.
- ↑ Dhillon, Amrit (11 June 2011). "What price wedded bliss? Indian lovers click and see". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney.
- ↑ Sharma, Neha (25 May 2011). "Here's how much dowry you're worth". Hindustan Times. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012.
- ↑ TV9 - Dowry calculator pokes fun at Indian marriage tradition
- ↑ TV9 - Dowry calculator pokes fun at Indian marriage tradition Part 2
External links
- http://www.dowrycalculator.com
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131613/http://dowrycalculator.in/
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