Monday, February 12, 2007

Arranged Marriages - India

I have been to nearly half-a-dozen weddings and missed as many, since Dec last year….It’s wedding season they say, this time of the year…
When it comes to ‘tying the knot’, in India, getting married the traditional way-a la “Arranged Marriage” is a THE way to go it seems.

The concept of Arranged Marriages is still a mystery to me. Frankly speaking, I am stumped by the logic behind arranged marriages. The most obvious question still bothers me- How can a person marry someone he/she doesn’t know?! It’s true; we don’t know the person (read personality/character) whom we are marrying. Simply because we haven’t known him/her for long. Did I say for long?…oops…Correction, we just meet him/her once and that’s it!! We decide whether to marry him/her from that one meeting which is nothing but an introduction. So it all comes down to just one basic thing and a set of typical questions in that meeting (or introduction or kanda pohe or whatever).The basic thing of course is the looks and the persona and it’s quite easy to get tricked by that isn’t it?! Whether we got fooled or were plain lucky can be decided only afta marriage!!!

Anyways, afta the so called introduction, both sides give their verdict…Obviously if it’s a ‘Yes’ from both, we proceed to the next stage..that is matching of kundalis …or does that take place before…well doesn’t matter…I can’t figure that out either. Coz even if the kundalis don’t match and the families like the boy/girl, the astrologer has to match them someway!!! Alrite, forget that…Engagement follows which is a normal thing in any marriage and then the World Cup finals-Wedding i.e.

I must say here that I love the wedding celebrations in India. The feast, the colorful crowds, the traditional ceremonies, the fireworks et al make for great day out.

But But But, HOWWWW do we decide from that meeting…still pondering on that one and I guess will continue to do so…Coz it's only after marriage that manifestation of the true character occurs and we get some not so pleasant surprises unlike love marriages where we know a person very well.