As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise “caste not important,” or “girls abilities will be main consideration.” The majority of them, however, still require not only caste, such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin.

In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a “wheat?olor” complexion or that a man be “tall, fair and handsome.”

Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. “Theres nothing embarrassing about it,” explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a sonnaw. “Its just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter.”

Because of high unemployment and a generally poor standard of living here, one of the best attractions a marriage advertisement can offer is a permit to live abroad, especially in Canada or the United States. A person who has one can get what he wants.

One recent Sunday in Madras, for example, a Punjabi engineer living in San Francisco advertised for a “beautiful slim bride with lovely features knowing music and dance.” And a man whose advertisement said that he had an American immigration permit was able to say, “Only girls from rich, well?ducated families need apply.”

6. The main idea of Paragraph 3 is that ____.?

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