Human Emotions On Sale !!!

Setting: A 5 star restaurant or CCD/Costa or your home.
Theme: Insane/Awkward Humor
Cuisine: Everything possible
Emotions: Numb
Star Cast: Boy & Girl (All the characters in this article are non fictional and bear some resemblance to a lot of us!!!)

Girl meets boy and his parents and his aunties and uncles, his cousins, his friends (later), almost every one who will be a part of the Band Baaja, if this works out fine. Still clueless??? Typical Indian Arranged Marriage Setting !!!

Not many of us are lucky enough to find the guy/gal of our dreams and if that happens, this is what happens next. Love takes a back seat and the front seat is taken by friends trying to fix us up with dates or lets say prospective brides/grooms, nosy aunties who are more bothered about our age and do not leave any stone unturned in trying to find us a suitable match (more on that a lil' later).

Suddenly, the matrimonial paper on sunday with the major dailies seem to become the best friend of everyone around you. Phones are never left on 'silent' mode (arre somebody might call), mails are checked every hour (Curiosity does get the worst out of you, sometimes), photo studios cash in on every opportunity to make the bride/groom look beautiful/handsome (what would we all do without photoshop), matrimonial sites are always logged in (as if they are finding a partner for themselves) and to top it all, kundli software is downloaded on all laptops/PC's.

What happens when you like a proposal in the classified?
You go mad!! Kundli matched (shukar hai bhagwaan ka, 28 gun milte hain), ladki-ladka both are non- manglik (check), ladki/ladke ki casual pictures bhejiye (oops, why did I spend money on getting my portfolio clicked, never mind, time for some casual pictures-check), ladki gori hai na, ladka any would do (check, double check), height kitni hai ladki/ladke ki ( do you have some stretches in mind that will help increasing the height, anyways-check), papa kya karte hain, mumma, behen, bhai, nani, nana, dadi, dada, bua, uncle- please temme something about everyone (told you insane humour).

Who are we and what world are we living in??? When in love marriages, people do not question the religion, caste, status of the families involved, do people actually turn irrational while dealing with people involved in arranged marriages. And, the youth looks on and accepts what his/her deranged parents are doing!!!

In a world where our present has becme a poor indicator of our future, the idea of arranging marriages continues to hold charm. Whether it is cloaked in tradition as it is in India or in modernity as it is elsewhere, the institution of marriage needs some help. The expanded Indian view of the arranged marriage functions as a facilitated marriage search designed for individuals. Perhaps that is why convented matches from status families will continue to look for decent marriages, caste no bar.

(P.S: Stay tuned for more on Band Baaja. Looks like the season of marriages (arranged) is here to stay!!!)