Indian society has moved a long way from the way the marriage is arranged in the story. Discuss.

In the past, marriages in India were usually arranged by parents/relatives. The story ‘Ranga’s Marriage’ shows how the narrator arranges Ranga’s marriage with the help of the astrologer. After independence, certain changes have come in the economic and social set up of the Indian Society. Women empowerment has made women men’s comrades and equal and not a mere prisoner confined within the four walls. Women’s education and access to jobs have hanged the attitude of modern males towards them. A girl is now accepted as a partner in marriage for her worth of qualities rather than the dowry. Marriageable young boys and girls have now more say in the choice of partners. Early child marriage has been banned legally. The minimum age for marriage for a girl is 18 and for a boy is 21. By this time they attain physical, emotional and mental maturity. Indian society has certainly moved a long way from the time of arranged marriages when the formal consent of the bride/bridegroom was taken for granted and the elders fixed everything.