Last night I was changing the channels of my television (when there was an advertisement in MasterChef Australia :P) I came across Bigg Boss ... (the name itself is so "exclusive") and I was thinking about what kind of impressions these people make on youngsters who are ready to absorb almost anything .. from music to what-nots (ahem ahem)

Jane Austen has always been my utmost inspiration .. not only her works.. but her style, her beliefs, her ideas .. her independent thinking has always inspired me .. So here's a piece on Jane Austen's works and the similarity of it with the Indian Society.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

These words have become immortal and they have been carved in the very core of my heart. This truth is not only universally acknowledged in the Victorian Era England but it is also applicable and well-fitted in the realms of the Indian society.

A young, eligible, handsome bachelor in the neighborhood – ah! How tempting! – and add the enormous wealth factor to that and it becomes the perfect prey- to be hunted down and hypnotized by the charms of their daughter.

Groom- searching has been an old Indian custom – practiced since ages and widespread even now, especially in the families sticking to and refusing to leave behind the old tradition. The typical conversations about the groom (what is his disposition? How is the family? So many sisters? Will he be able to support her? Good looking? ……… GOD!!!!); the infuriating and embarrassing questions the ‘groom’s-side’ asks the girl as though she is their possession – all this was too tempting for Jane Austen – the ‘master-mind’ behind the outright contenting must-read books – to resist. The humorous episodes of peculiar match-makings, the away in which a family chases after a handsome, wealthy guy and finally the incredible account of the feelings of love and hatred – Jane has captivated all these sentiments beautifully. Unknowingly, she has killed two birds with a single arrow- one from Victorian Era England and the other one from timeless India.

Jane Austen’s characters are often correlated with having a sense of responsibility and duty- such as Elizabeth Bennet, who held her self-respect high above than that of her sisters and she gave a lot of importance to her ‘pride’. Jane’s first published novel in 1811 was ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and its first edition read – “By a Lady”. (As compared with other women writer of her time- like the Bronte sisters who wrote under the pseudonym "Bell brothers") Even though a woman writer in that time was not respectable- she wanted the society to know that a woman is not simply a human that learns to play the pianoforte, dresses beautifully and marries- no- she is more than that. I immensely respect Jane’s belief in herself- and her ‘avant-garde’ personality. She is a source of inspiration for the young generation, not only in England but also in India. People who are ready to question situations and the social circumstances, people who can differentiate between what is right and what isn’t and people who give paramount importance to their own personal views and opinions youth is what a developing nation like ours calls for.

I, am a downright Jane Austen fan- not only of her ideas or language or her stance, but about standing up for it and having confidence in it. She, in the Victorian Era earned her living by writing books (when it was preposterous for a lady to do so); instead of marrying- and besides that, she even respect her decision and never let the conventional beliefs of the world get in between her life and her passion. I believe that she is a true woman- fighting for herself. I can proudly say that I am a Janeite. Big Time.

:)