Behind Sati

In a Hindu wedding, there is a significant ritual where the newly weds walk 7 steps around the fire or agni. In between the 7 circles, the wife crosses over her husband's path and leads the way. This moment symbolizes the phrase where 'if there would be death, i would go 1st'.

Observing this ritual, it is considered a spiritual blessing if during a couple's lifetime, the wife reaches death before her husband. A devout and pious Hindu wife would want a death as such, to die a sumangali(a woman still married to a very much alive husband). An when that does not happen, as such in most cases these days, in comes this horrifying practice of Sati. Sati is a ritual where during the funeral of her husband, the now widowed wife would have to jump into the flames of the funeral pyre as to 'follow' her husband even in death. I read about this blood curdling system long time back and winced in disgust when i heard that it is still practiced in remote parts of India. As much as i abhorred this practice, i decided to find out the real meaning of Sati and how it materialized.
Found the answer between of chapter's of The Ramayana...well, to me, its a beautiful mythology.Just a mythology with no regard to adhere to it. Period.

The first day of Brahma. In this period lived Rudra, whom we now speak of as Lord Shiva, a simple mendicant who took pleasure in meditating in cremation grounds and in passing his time in the company of spirits, ghouls and goblins. He took to his heart a desire to wed the beautiful Sati (or known as Uma in The Mahabharata), daughter of Lord Daksha. And eventually Sati proclaimed her undying desire to wed Rudra much to her father's anger.
Lord Daksha viewed Rudra as a unruly, dishevelled, homeless mendicant who unfit for his daughter who had been brought up in the laps of luxuries like satins, gold, diamonds and tenderness. So he rejected Rudra and defying her father, Sati went ahead and married Rudra.
Once becoming his son-in-law, Lord Daksha was compelled to include Rudra in all the family rituals and affairs. And being the proud and uncompromising founder of the Arya race, Lord Daksha decided to humiliate Rudra by neglecting to invite Rudra for an important Yagna(religious fire ritual) whilst making sure that Sati was present.
Sati soon realised her father's doings,as all the assembled guests began commenting critically on Rudra's absence.
Daksha's scheme flew back flat back on his face. Sati was devastated by her father's insult towards her husband. So blaming her father continuously, she then threw herself bodily into the Yagna havan, calling out to the fire God Agni to accept her sacrifice. Before anyone could stop this horrifying spectacle, she was engulfed by the flames of the sacred fire. And since then, her name Sati became a symbol for self-sacrifice. Even today, any widowed wife who chooses to follow her husband to the afterlife may voluntarily consign herself to his funeral pyre in the act of Sati.

As we can see from the fable, the last paragraph truly highlights the Sati as being a choice of the woman herself and thus, she should not be forced into performing a Sati unwillingly. So, even in religion(glad to note that), this act is not compulsory, neither is it obligatory. It just a sad case that people in the name of being religiously 'devoted' choose to become dogmas and instill this practice on widowed women.
As i see it, Sati should just remain where it started, the days of Brahma, as a mythology and nothing else.