Love through marriage bureaus

AMBANI-GANDHI

All of us immigrants from the Indian sub-continent have, at some point, found ourselves wound in a laborious discussion about arranged marriages.

“Arranged marriages are like speed dating or dating websites,” I say when posed with that inevitable question. But no cultural parallel really quite unravels the mysterious ways in which arranged marriages work – westerners just don’t get it, do they?

As if responding to the plight of desis around the world, London-based investment banker and author, Farahad Zama reveals the intricacies of

Zama clearly points to some of the evils of Indian society, but rather than take a dogmatic, revolutionary stance, he reveals the ways in which Indians have learned to navigate their circumstances arranged marriages in a fun, entertaining way through his The Marriage Bureau for Rich People book series.

Set in the author’s hometown in India, Vizag – also known as Visakhapatnam – the second novel in the series, The Many Conditions of Love, charts not just the stories of love and marriage, but also a range of other social issues in contemporary India. In an RK Narayanlike portrait of a small town, Zama captures the heady challenges and small pleasures of the common Indian.

There are no heroes or villains in this tale, simply men and women caught up in economic or social conditions ranging from early widowhood to a devastating crop failure. Zama clearly points to some of the evils of Indian society, but rather than take a dogmatic, revolutionary stance, he reveals the ways in which Indians have learned to navigate their circumstances.

This doesn’t mean that the novel lacks in drama. There are some elements of the regular masala film like a Hindu-Muslim love story, with the girl even being locked away by the fuming father. In true Bollywood style, Zama even quotes lyrics from famous Hindi film songs at opportune moments, to evoke a sense of the musical tradition of storytelling in India.

Linking all these seemingly disparate strands of the tale together is the character at the crux of the book series, the retired government employee Mr Ali, and his marriage bureau. And some of the best moments of the book, which reveal local characters with all their quirks and habits, are set in this bureau. The families of the prospective brides and grooms come to Mr Ali with a range of conditions – the conditions upon which are based love and matrimony. One father wants only a highly qualified son-in-law for his daughter. An aristocratic lady wants to ensure that her daughter-inlaw has a long nose to ensure the grandchildren will carry on the physical lineage. Even Mr Ali’s assistant is having trouble in her marriage into a wealthy family. However, Mr Ali and his good-natured wife have a wise and common sense answer to all these travails. Read the book and who knows, you might just find the answer to your problems. And if nothing quite as profound, you will still enjoy an easy, gentle read and a loving reminder of the simple ways of our home country.