culture

I had quite a busy day today.
One of my nieces turned 13. Big milestone. And this particular niece is like my own child...she came home to us from the hospital, 4 days old, and has not left since. For the last few years, whenever one of the small kids in the family have a birthday, I get asked to bake (cupcakes and chocolate cake are my 2 specialties). Which I did last night. And this morning, Ayesha and I went to buy her "Step-up" sneakers and get stuff to make for lunch, which I also did after the shopping.

When I had just out my casserole into the oven, my friend came to pick me up. She had asked me on Monday to help her with her brother-in-law's engagement (this particular brother in law of hers I have a serious physical attraction to. He is an asshole of the first degree, arrogant and entitled as hell, so any sort of relationship with him is not exactly on a priority list of mine. But, if I were allowed to be naughty with him...damn, I would be).

But that's not the point of today's post. This person and his family are South Africans of Indian descent. When they have weddings, it is like this whole list of cultural things that 'need' to be observed.
My question is why?
I have seen families conform to cultural norms and practices, especially when it comes to marriage, and people have put themselves into major debt to keep up appearances with people in the community or family.
Fortunately for this family, that is not the case.

So why exactly do people cling so to unnecessary cultural practices?