Let the games begin!! - part I (marriage and all that jazz)

Hmm. where do I start? About 10 days ago, I finally asked my mom to start the "bride hunting" process. Meaning, throw me in the mix and also start looking for the right one for me. She said it normally takes at least a year or two to bump into the "one" and it made sense to start it off now, when I'm still young. All my non-indian readers, don't panic. Indian arranged marriages aren't all that bad. It works, most of the time!

So, I'm thinkin, why not start it off while I look for someone who'd love me for who I am while my parents do what gives them wings. Surprise, surprise. Barely a week and my mom has already mentioned four different girls and one family is already interested in moving forward. What??? :) I told my 33 yr old single american colleague about the situation and he said 'damn, boy. your mom's on a mission!!'. Words of wisdom. He's darned right.

One thing that I don't like about arranged marriage is the random, fuzzy ordering of events. For example, while they match our horoscopes and profiles, they let us read each other's profiles and see each other's pictures. If we share the right vibe but our horoscopes don't match for some reason, shit hits the fan. You coulda liked each other but they'd go 'no way, jose'. Sometimes, they'd match the profiles, the family status, the horoscopes and all that stuff and put you in a position where if you didn't wanna marry the girl, you make it obvious that you didn't like the way she looked in person or her personality. Even if you had an ounce of sanity/decency in you, you'd understand that it aint fun to tell someone that you didn't like them, especially if they liked you. Or vice versa.

A month ago, I met an old, retired person from my hometown at a dosa party. He asked me all sorts of questions about my age, profession, interests, star, sun sign etc. and he said his friend's daughter was looking for someone similar and he asked my parent's contact information. I told him my parents hadn't even started looking for me and I wasn't in any hurry either. However, since he showed lot of interest, I gave him my business card and asked him to give my e-mail id to the girl because if we happened to get along, I might have started off my marriage process to see if she'd work out. All hell broke loose and he was offended that I wanted to talk to the girl before the families did and he said that would never happen. He had already asked me a zillion questions and made sure I was a potential match; So why not ask the girl to e-mail me? The only answer is their inexplicable belief in matching horoscopes. If you took two horoscopes to five different astrologers and tried to match em, there would be 50-50 result. Though people know it, they don't care. "My parents did it for me; I'll do it for my kids" is the answer. Its understandable that they want no risk when it comes to their kid's life but I feel horoscopes are a bit too dominant, for the uncertainty in the results.

Anyway, here I am. A cultural mix of the east and the west. I love Pulp Fiction as much as I love Alaipayuthe. I love Ponniyan Selvan as much as I love The Shining. I love Yellow Tail as much as I love elaneer. I love SPB as much as I love Steven Tyler. I love reading Anantha Vikatan as much as I love reading SI. And yes, I love malligai-poo-idli as much I love mashed potatoes and gravy. Having said all this, I shall hope for the best and sit on my ass, waiting for fate to hit me between the eyes :)

.. More to follow ..