We live in a dichotomous society. On the one hand mainstream cinema and the serials we are addicted to project ad nauseam the power and beauty of young love. On the other hand, when our own young ones fall in love, we are filled with misgiving. And when the partner an adult child has chosen is deemed to be unsuitable, the misgiving turns to sorrow followed by anger and hatred leading to violence and sometimes even death.

Like in the case of Rizwanur Rahman from Kolkata, who one morning was found dead on the railway tracks. Rizwanur, a 30- year-old Muslim man from a middle class family died because he married Priyanka Todi, the 23-year-old-daughter of an influential and wealthy Hindu industrialist. They were both adults who had the legal right to marry whomsoever they wished.
And yet they were hounded and harassed by not just her family but even the police. They were followed and threatened by anti-social elements, detective squads and influential relatives and friends of Priyanka’s father. Finally, unable to bear the pressure, Priyanka went back to her parental home, carrying a written assurance from her uncle saying she would be allowed to return. A couple of days later, Rizwanur was found dead.

How did he die? Was he murdered? Did he commit suicide? Who was responsible for his death?
There were protest marches. The police chief was transferred. The CBI was called. Rizwanur’s case became national news. But the bottom line remained the same. Rizwanur died because he dared to marry the girl he loved.
All sane voices across the country condemned the death of this young husband who had been married for less than a month. And yet there was that niggling question which worried many parents. What would they have done if their child decided to marry a partner whom they deemed inappropriate? Not had him killed, of course. But to what extent would they have gone to separate her from him?

Rizwanur was educated. He taught graphic design at a multimedia institute in Kolkata. But he lived in a small, tin-roofed house in a teeming colony. He was devoted to his widowed mother. Certainly there were many who would have considered him an eligible bachelor.
His 23-year-old-student Priyanka was the pampered daughter of one of the richest and most socially prominent Hindu industrialists of Kolkata. She lived in a palatial house and by her own accounts lived an ‘overprotected’ life. Could two lives have been more different?
Yet, when Priyanka and Rizwanur met at the institute, love blossomed. She defied her parents and walked out of her house empty-handed to marry the man of her choice and was welcomed by his family.

Her influential father could do nothing legally as they were two adults who had got married in court. But he used all the clout he had to separate them. And finally he achieved his goal. At what cost? Will Priyanka ever be happy again? Or does her happiness not matter at all as long as the family ‘honour’ is saved? Is honour killing an acceptable form of punishment even in a modern metropolis like Kolkata?
As I said, we are a dichotomous society. How many times would we have seen such scenes enacted on the silver screen? How many times would we have sat shedding copious tears over the fate of young and innocent lovers being hounded by parents blinded by their own notions of status and suitability? How many times would we have cheered as the young couple went off into the horizon armed with nothing but their love and faith in each other? Or lay dying in each other’s arms.

And yet, if it happens to our own children, we realise the difference between reel and real life. Even as the CBI investigated Rizwanur’s death, the Chiranjeevi soap opera started unfolding on our newspapers and TV screens. Chiranjeevi, as everyone south of the Vindhyas knows, is the mega superstar of Telugu cinema. A man who would have many times over portrayed the unsuitable lover on the silver screen. Yet, one day, his 19-year-old younger daughter Srija eloped with her 22-year-old boyfriend Sirish. She eloped, she said, because her father found her lover unsuitable and had kept her under house arrest to prevent her from meeting him. Priyanka’s father had used detectives to dig up Rizwanur’s old girlfriend in a last ditch attempt to get his daughter back. In the Srija episode, an old ‘kidnapping’ case against Sirish surfaced. But the comparisons end there. Rizwanur is dead. Sirish and Srija are fine and living under police protection. Her father has publicly said he wants his daughter to be happy although he hasn’t exactly welcomed her home with open arms.