Theatre performance: Meri Lado — a comment on dowry tradition

Highlights suffering of brides’ families in paying for dowry.

FAISALABAD:

A play titled Meri Lado was staged at Faisalabad Arts Coucil to highlight the effect of dowry tradition on brides’ families in rural areas. It also commented on changing trends in marriage ceremonies.

The play was based around a rural wedding ceremony. The bride’s family is shown to have taken huge debts on high rates of interest to purchase a ‘reasonable’ dowry. The family then suffers to repay the debts.

“People tend to be greedy when it comes to deciding whether or not to accept dowry. This practice should be criticised,” Abdul Wahhab, one of the actors, said.

He said the things grooms receive from brides’ families hardly make their lives any better in the long-term. “It is the relationship between the two individuals that matters,” he said.

Professor Muhammad Sadiq, an audience member, praised the script of the play and said that it had managed to convey a strong message against the dowry tradition.

University of Agriculture’s Faculty of Social Sciences Dean Dr Zafar Iqbal also watched the play.

The play was written by Shakeel Sheikh and the actors  were Ghafoor Kaudu, Sarfraz Chauhdary, Abdul Wahhab, Naeem Tasawwar, Asghar Hashmi, Nooni, Wahhab Junior and Waqas Ahmad.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2012.