Kashmir's Lancet Love Test

Last month, a 26-year-old schoolteacher in Budgam brought sweets to her fiancé's house. The family asked for one more gift: a fresh blood-sugar report.

She returned with an HbA1c of 6.4, just below the diabetic line. The wedding is off. The mother explained,“We cannot bring a sick girl into the house.”

The girl now checks her glucose each morning and wonders if love comes with a lancet.

Endocrinology out-patient departments in Kashmir have doubled in five years. Government data show 2.4 lakh registered diabetics in 2025, up from 1.1 lakh in 2020.

Doctors blame the shift from home-cooked mutton and turnip to city-bought snacks and cola, plus winters spent around the firepots instead of the cricket ground.

Whatever the cause, the number is public, and it is deciding who is marriage-ready.

Matrimonial notices in a local newspaper used to list height, job, and whether the girl covers her head. Now twenty percent end with“non-diabetic only.”

A pathology lab owner in city has even started a“bridal package”: full blood count, thyroid profile, and glucose tolerance test, all for two thousand rupees. Business is brisk.

The test itself is harmless. A drop of blood, a three-minute wait, a figure between four and six is normal. The meaning attached to the figure is not.

Families treat the printout as a character certificate. A number above six is read as proof that the girl will cost money in metformin, insulin, or maybe kidney failure. Boys are given more room. An overweight groom can still negotiate, especially if he works in the Gulf.

The health department has no policy on pre-marital screening. Private labs are happy to fill the gap. They hand out colour-coded charts that list glucose values but leave out the line that says diabetes can be managed, even reversed. The chart sticks to the fridge like a verdict.

A number produced by a machine is being used to decide who is worthy of family life. The machine does not ask what the girl teaches, how she behaves, and whether she can calm a crying child. It only knows glucose.

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