VOA常速英语2007-Indian Brides, Marrying to Go Abroad, Often Find

By Madhur Singh
Chandigarh, India
25 October 2007

Activists¹ in northern India are raising the alarm about a growing number of women being duped and abandoned by émigré husbands. Lured² by the prospect³ of going abroad, some of the women bring huge dowries to their marriages, which the husbands take with them. Madhur Singh reports from Chandigarh that these women have little legal recourse, and many do not go to the police for fear of being branded as social outcasts.

It is wedding season in India, and in almost every neighborhood, the streets echo with celebratory music.

Colorful north Indian wedding celebrations can last for days.

Archana Sharma says she thought her wedding eight years ago, when she was 25, would be no different.

She says she agreed to enter into an arranged marriage after her father died and her mother and two younger sisters needed financial support. She married a much older, Canadian-based astrologer, whom the family believed was well settled.

He was too well settled, as it turned out. After spending six weeks with his bride, the groom⁴ went back to Toronto promising⁵ to send for her.

Instead, after six years of waiting, Sharma says she one day received divorce papers.

She says she felt used, explaining that women should be cherished and not treated as merchandise, because wives give birth and make the world go around.

Hers is an increasingly familiar story.

Various studies put the number of such abandoned brides in India at between 15,000 and 30,000. But social activists say the real number is much higher, as most cases go unreported because of the social stigma⁶.

Patriarchal customs, inadequate⁷ laws and a fascination⁸ with going abroad all combine to cause the problem.

In the Indian state of Punjab is it common for families to have at least one member living abroad.

The head of the sociology department at Panjab University, Sherry Sabbarwal, says Punjabis, in particular, have a "craze" about going abroad.

"Punjabis have a penchant⁹ for anything foreign. We are very fond of showing off my imported car, and my imported whatever equipment I may have in my house. So I guess they like to show off their imported 'damaads,' their sons-in-law," she explained.

Nearly a half million Indians go abroad each year, primarily to find work. Sociologist¹⁰ Sabbarwal says many women want to join this exodus¹¹, in great part to escape from the patriarchal environment in India.

"There's this element of escaping the joint¹² family system in India," she said. "The girl herself wants to go abroad so that she doesn't have to live with the in-laws."

Moreover, marriage to an Indian settled abroad is considered a status symbol, and a possible means for the entire family to emigrate.

Santosh Singh is coordinator¹³ at the government-run Family Counseling Center in Chandigarh.

She says very often such marriages are doomed¹⁴ because of a clash of viewpoints, explaining that Indians who have lived abroad for long still cherish an image of India that is no longer true.

But, she says, India has changed, and Indian girls have changed. Singh contends these grooms¹⁵ want a bride who will be coy and submissive and will have all the qualities that are impossible in today's world.

For whatever reason, grooms frequently end up abandoning their homegrown wives after receiving a dowry and engaging in a brief marital¹⁶ relationship.

Chandigarh's Family Counseling Center informs women and their families on how to verify the credentials¹⁷ of prospective¹⁸ husbands, including checking their passports, residency status and financial details.

An entire industry of private investigators¹⁹ and international law firms has come into being devoted²⁰ to checking out prospective grooms and brides. And the government's Ministry²¹ of Overseas Indian Affairs has launched a program to provide legal, monetary²² and psychological help to women abandoned by émigré husbands.

Women's rights activists are now demanding the government sign agreements with other countries to protect those who end up marrying into the Indian diaspora.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

8 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

9 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

10 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

11 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

14 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

15 grooms   

n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• Plender end Wilcox became joint grooms of the chambers. 普伦德和威尔科克斯成为共同的贴身侍从。 来自辞典例句
• Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. 埃及：在埃及，由新郎的家人，而不是新郎本人，向新娘求婚。 来自互联网

16 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

17 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

18 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

19 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

21 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

22 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。