UNLIKELY FEMINIST: Nisha with the dowry

Nisha Sharma's is a case of accidental awakening. This petite 21-year-old, middle-class girl who called the police to her wedding mandap and sent her would-be groom behind bars had never even dreamt of female empowerment. She grew up following a conventional script: be good, do good, accept customs, follow traditions, respect elders. A final year student of software engineering, the Noida resident happily agreed to an arranged marriage. In fact, she went along collecting dowry items, a car, jewellery, gifts and clothes for her prospective in-laws.

Then a slap on her father's face turned Nisha's world upside down. In true film style, minutes before the wedding ceremony was to start on May 11, the prospective mother-in-law kicked up a fracas and slapped the bride's father. She wanted additional dowry for her much-married elder son, the groom's brother, and Rs 12 lakh in cash. Nisha's conventional story took a U-turn. Dressed in bridal finery, she backed off from the mandap, picking up courage and the telephone. And called the police. The media followed suit and the story broke across the country. The homely bride turned into a heroine while the greedy groom fidgeted behind bars.

Nisha is no iron-willed feminist. She admits she does not know much about the dowry laws in the country. She is a simple, sweet girl, who on the spur of the moment "responded to the call of my heart". She is still trying to figure out why the police did not arrest the groom's mother who was his partner in crime.

She may be an exception, but she is not alone. The power of empowerment lights up her light eyes and she shrugs off the deep red bridal henna on her hands. She sits surrounded by journalists, women's groups, political leaders, proud neighbours and some admirers who have proposed marriage. If such social reaction to dowry reaches critical mass, the rules of the dowry game will change. Nisha's checkmate has made a point.

-Shefalee Vasudev

Video Court

Now undertrials in jails need not be marched to the local courts in handcuffs, at least in Karnataka. Last month, Justice G.C. Bharuka inaugurated a video conferencing system at Karnataka's largest jail Parappana Agrahara. "It is not a replacement for courtrooms. The purpose is to protect the undertrial and witnesses," he said.

The Supreme Court has already approved the system and by December all the 39 prisons in the state will have the facility. Nearly 3,500 court personnel and most of the judges have received training to run the network. With more than 11 lakh cases pending in various courts in Karnataka, it is both economical and will lead to quicker justice. The video networking of Parappana Agrahara jail with the magistrate's court, Mayo Hall and the city civil and sessions courts cost Rs 60 lakh. A price entirely justified.

-Stephen David