Champaben is one of the many from the community, who are saying no to this age-old tradition, which was pushing the community to the brink of penury.

And all this is the result of the efforts of one dalit woman, Debuben Pandya, who got the Koli community of 52 villages (later 66 villages) across the Bhal region say no to bride price. To top it all, she also got a community constitution signed by community elders in a meeting at Gogla village at Dhanduka.

The Indian Express had reported the brave struggle of this sixty-one-year-old lady last year on Women's Day. A year down the line, the assessment of the impact of her campaign threw up some pleasant surprises.

"I don't think I lost an opportunity to make money," says Champaben. While this landless, illiterate woman works as a daily labourer, she was rather clear on her decision. "Not every body is willing to accept this decision of not taking bride price, after all this is an age old practice, but I decided not to sell off my only child and I don't regret it," she says.

"We have many in this village, who have not taken bride-price," says Chotubhai Ranghani, the former sarpanch of the village. "But then this is a tradition, deeply entrenched in the social psyche and not every one is ready as yet," he adds.

Initially the constitution was drafted for 52 villages, but later 14 villages of Dhanuka taluka met members of Mahiti, the organisation founded and run by Debuben, and decided to implement it with minor changes.

"While these 14 villages are implementing the decision of stopping this practice, the others are on the way," adds Bhanjibhai Khasia from Mahiti.

"The journey is not so easy and we are still working with the community. The tradition has spread its roots far deeper in the community than one can perceive, but there are perceptible changes. In the last one year, about 15 villages in Bhavnagar and 14 in Dhanduka have adopted the constitution and are implementing it, while in some villages we were getting reports of partial implementation," says Debuben.

The dilemma is evident with Narsi Ranghani, another daily wage earner from Khun village, who got his only daughter married off last year without taking money. "While I did not take money for my daughter, I am not too sure what will happen to my son once he grows up. I hope things will change by then," he says.