From IIT Madras Students To Brides To Be, A Warning Song Gone Viral

Chennai:

What is expected of brides in India? The vexing question has now been answered once and for all in a music video produced by three students from IIT Madras. And naturally, it has gone viral.

Set to the tune of Canadian popstar Carly Rae Jepsen's hit number Call Me Maybe, the song 'Be Our Pondati' lampoons the demands that pass in the name of matrimonial advertisements by "bride-seeking" eligible Indian bachelors and their mothers. Pondati in Tamil means wife.

Produced for a campus competition, the video has clocked more 3 lakh views in two weeks.



So was the video from personal experience? No, the post graduate students say.

"There's a gender bias (in society). One set of rules for men and one set of rules for women. We challenge this," said Krupa Varghese, the student who has performed in the video.

From a "homely girl" to one who does not wear shorts, the video goes on to warn women that they will be asked to "submit samples of your round chapattis" and "in no time you'll be making babies".

Asmita Ghosh, who wrote and sang it, said, "It would be awesome if these are not factors at all or if a man would come love a woman for her six digit salary or a woman would love a man for his round chapathis."

Results of the IIT competition are yet to come but the team is already celebrating.

Anukripa Elango, the third member of the team, said, "I am excited, of course. But mostly surprised. I keep thinking this is it, this is as big as it is going to get. I was excited for the video to hit three thousand views online. We're still wondering just when this will die down.