2nd in a yr: Mandya youths on padayatra for 'bride bhagya'

MYSURU: Young, eligible and strapping men from parts of Mandya district are drawing a blank in the marriage market only because they are fully into agriculture and live in villages, far removed from urban glitz and seemingly secure professional jobs with guaranteed salaries.
Hurt by frequent rejection by brides for years, these bachelors from Mandya who are well over 30 years of age have decided to take out a padayatra to Adichunchanagiri Mutt -an influential Vokkaliga institution - in the district in December with twin objectives: To seek divine intervention for a change in fortune and create awareness about their predicament.
This is the second such padayatra this year. Girimallu, a youth from Mandya, urged the state government to announce an action plan to ensure 'Bride Bhagya' for the youths engaged in farming. tnn
In our villages, hundreds of youth have stopped dreaming of marriage due to this never-ending crisis," Girimallu added.
The first such padayatra was in February when hundreds of bachelors engaged in farming activities had embarked on a padayatra from Malavalli taluk in Mandya district to MM Hills in Chamarajanagar district.
After the February walkathon, Akhila Karnataka Brahmacharigala Sangha founder KM Shivaprasad said people are more aware of the challenges of finding a bride, but there's no discernible change in the "mindset of brides and their families". The only upshot being the issue has become a topic of drawing-room discussion, and this may yield a solution in the coming years.
Santosh from T Narasipura taluk in Mysuru district, who visited the temple after taking out a padayatra, said : "We are not asking for dowry. We have enough to take care of our family. Yet, no family is willing to give daughters to us - ours is a pastoral paradise, though -- in marriage."