This year a couple needs dollars for the hall, and the banks give 300 a month. So the brides' mothers are in the exchange booths at Bazar-i Kalan, at 9.5 and soon 11. I ask my fee in som now, at the bazaar rate. Some halls ask in som at 8.40, then quietly add a "service" of 15%.
A dowry has always been a number. This year the number runs away. A grandmother told me: "In my time we counted sheep. Sheep do not have a rate."
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