Tuesday 8 December 2009

An Arranged Marriage

For centuries now, marriages in India have been arranged by families. When the girl or boy is of marriageable age, feelers[along with details] are sent to all the relatives existing in every corner of the country or abroad. Nowadays it is ofcourse also advertised in the newspapers and on the internet.

First, details of the girl usually the horoscope or a cv and photographs are scrutinized by the boy’s people, if found compatible a meeting between the respective families is fixed. If all matters do not get sorted out in the 1st meeting itself a 2nd or 3rd meeting is allowed and most often than not marriages are fixed on the basis of these 2-3 meetings.

When non-Indians and India’s younger generation express shock or disgust the Karnavar[the elders] proudly boast that the statistics are good. While we may not have 100% success rates the divorce rates are wayyyy below every other countrys'.

Even today atleast 70% of India’s marriages are arranged this way. Incase you are wondering why the girl or boy don’t protest against this forceful way of marrying them off the answer is simple. We have been conditioned to accept this kind of arrangement from the time we were in kindergarten…….and the fact that we trust our parents to make the best choice for us.

Ofcourse love marriages are more common in the Cities nowadays but it happens after a lot of drama especially if the boy & girl are from different religions[eg. Hindu & muslim, Hindu and Christian, Muslim and Christian] or communities[both could be hindus but from different states - a Malayalee and a Punjabi].

Sometimes the girl/boy give into parental pressures and give up their desires, other times parents give in and its usually when children threaten to do something extreme. Very rarely do marriages like these happen with complete approval. Sometimes even if the parents themselves have no problems the relatives step in to make their lives miserable.

Actually I’m deviating away from my subject of Arranged Marriages here, so coming back to one particular arranged marriage I want to tell you about……

Round about 11 yrs back, a few weeks before her 25th birthday, while having dinner her father announced his plans to get her married off before the end of the year. When she loudly protested that she had a good 3 yrs left before putting her head through the nooze he waved his left hand like he was swatting off a fly and continued eating. Her mother offered her hope saying that these things take time to click, so she was not to worry unnecessarily and in the meantime go like a good girl to GK vale and click some pretty pictures so that she could send them to our relatives in the country and abroad…..”just preliminaries”, the mother once again reassures her “a good match sometimes takes years to happen.”

On her birthday as she was getting ready to go out with a friend her mom gets a phone call and she hurriedly tells her to wear something nice as a family friend was coming to visit them with ‘her friend’. Just a casual visit, my mother stresses giving me a meaningful look...oh what the heck....yes, this is my story.

A smart-looking lady, accompanied by the family-friend walks in sometime later. She scanned around the house critically, looked me up and down while I fidgeted with my bikes keys, even held my face to the light and commented on the marks I had on my face. I was not sure how to address this rudeness but my mother nervously hovering on the sidelines and also the fact that I did have marks on my face, held me back from…I don’t know what.

After some detailed grilling, she took a picture from her handbag & gave it to my mom just before leaving. As soon as she left the 4 of us huddled around that tiny picture. We were all impressed for different reasons………

My father[satisfied]: “He’s an engineer”
[It had been my fathers life-long ambition to get his daughters married to engineers]
My mother[impressed]: “They are Orthodox just like us”

My sister[approvingly]: “He looks good”

Me[looking for a fault]: But he stays in Dubai…….guys over there wear neon-coloured lungis. I don’t want to leave Bangalore.

It sounds corny now but 1 look was all I needed to decide I wanted to marry the guy. It was not about the looks…infact some of you may exclaim “What were you thinking….for God’s sake he’s got a mush”.

Aaaaah but decent Malayalee girls like me [yup the pansy types who’ve never dated] prefer guys with mush….. atleast on the guys we were going to get married to. And guess what, malayalee boys decent or otherwise often grow a mush precisely for the same reason. Go ahead ask any decent Malayalee girl or boy, you’ll get the same answer.

Coming back to what I saying…..even from the photograph, a sort of integrity radiated or maybe his personality attracted me. Whatever the reason, I was willing to see how it goes.

The Boy’s Mother had taken my pictures along with her to send it to her son. Seems like the son after seeing the pictures questioned whether I was really above 18 coz I looked more like a teenager in the photos.

Off I went to GK Vale, willingly this time to take pictures in a Saree. Again pictures were duly sent for Boy’s approval. I can quite picture the thoughts running thru many of your minds but the plain fact was that I liked the guy in the picture and wanted to give this proposal a decent chance. Oh well even if I had made a fuss my father was quite capable of dragging me to the nearest tacky studio & getting a picture of me taken with those fake sceneries as background…..so better this than that, right!!! And all this happens in January.

Boy was supposed to come in March, but it kept getting postponed for some reason or the other. My father in the meanwhile had kept a few other proposals on hold coz he was keen this worked……..nobody knew this but I too hoped this one would work out.

I was terribly sick with fever and a sore throat when the boy finally arrived in May. The timing was terrible. He was supposedly in the middle of some important project and came to India via his way somewhere else and so had only 3 days which meant they couldn’t afford to wait for me to recover. I dragged my sickly self up listlessly to dress my best. As the visit was completely unexpected, my father who was out of station was not able to make it on time.

Boy and family arrive, we all congregate to the living-room and general talks happen. Within 15-20 minutes conversation dries up and everybody went quiet, suddenly nobody could think of anything to say..….infact I clearly remember the boy’s mother humming a tune to cover up the awkwardness and his sister was examining the mosaic on the floor in great detail. My mother and sister[the rats] vanished to the kitchen to bring the eats. My father’s absence was never more felt.

From there it went downhill……the boy clammed up AND I WAS TALKING TOO MUCH. Well you have to understand my state of mind here………as I saw it nobody was making an effort and the room was so quiet. As a host I took it upon myself to keep the conversation going & my voice sounded like sandpaper being rubbed on the wall because of the sore-throat I had….you get the picture, right. Even today I cringe when I think about it.

As I saw them walking out of the gate the feeling was not very good. The visit didn’t at all go the way I had imagined. The Boy did not meet my eyes when he was taking leave. It was not a good sign. The Boy, in person was and behaved exactly like the guy I had envisioned in my thoughts.....you know, the calm collected types….whereas I, at my best, was a bit of a clown. I was quite sure he’d say no. I told my parents about my doubts and warned them not to habour any hopes.

Oh well, no point brooding about it right!!! The Boy, now that I had time to think about it came across as arrogant and the silent types which was just the opposite to what I was. And I had to leave my beloved Bangalore and my family to live in some desert. No way.

The other proposal my father had put on hold, that of an Army captain who had 3 servants helping around in the house sounded much more prospective suddenly. For a person who didn’t know how to cook and a couch-potato by nature it was looking like a more and more attractive option now. I went about the day normally though at odd times I became very quiet but blamed this on the viral flu which I had not yet recovered from.



This is stretching like a saga…..dont want to bore you out of your skull. So I’ll put the rest of it up in the next post :-D.

Now you tell me, was yours a Love marriage or Arranged?????

Part 2 continued here

82 comments:

  1. I was beginning to wonder.....;-D

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  2. This is so bad :( Gotta wait for the next part? Che che :P

    So, u do like the neon colour lungis nw ;)

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  3. Aah,the dramas of arranged marriages. Will you imagine a families meeting,the bride-seeing(??!!) was organised on Indian independence day! :D.

    Now,Nancy, there you are in your own self. I'll wait for the next part!! :D

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  4. //So, u do like the neon colour lungis nw ;)//

    ??Like?no like??

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  5. Swaram: And u havent answered my question...abt ur marriage???

    Savitha: Independence day huh...interesting, put it up as a post. And thank U :-))

    So, u do like the neon colour lungis nw ;)
    Swaram and Savitha my dear blogger friends, havent u heard of the famous saying "If u cant beat them, join them;-D"

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  6. oh no.. it was so interesting.. pl post the second part fast..

    coming to the question, mine was love marriage, but then was approved by elders and became arranged marriage. :)

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  7. He he .. no pics taken ... no meetings :P We were family friends for many yrs .. MIL says she always wanted me to be her DIL from the day she hd seen me first, which ws when I ws 17 or so ;)

    And then it ws all casual talks and I don't even know when we both decided to marry :P

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  8. :-) whichever , I hope it is a roller-coaster ride!

    Loved your description. The only thing I truly dislike about these 'meetings' is - Since I paint & the walls of my house is literally an art gallery, I invariably have to give them all a virtual tour. You can imagine! I'll write about it smtime ;-)

    waiting for part2.

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  9. Haha, so it our dear Nancy's love story...and so interesting...
    Love the mush part, ur right, any mallu wants to marry a dark guy with a lot of mush, even if they wear multi-coloured lungis!
    FYI, my husband has a mush too and ours is a love marriage!And I fell for his mush, you could say!

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  10. He he, lovely story Nancy - If you blogged at that time, he would've fallen in love with the clown just like you fell in love with his mushy picture :)

    C'mmon what happened next? And don't hide any facts - add all the spice you can :P

    And the mush??? What's this obsession? Remember Joy Allukas sometime back had a policy that all staff had to be clean shaven :P Poor guys, wonder whether they're married yet or no...

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  11. Bit of research here.

    25th birthday+1 year for marriage+1 year of honeymoon+ 6 year old first daughter+ (3yrs benefit of doubt).....So ""reflections"" is 36+ yr old.................Ok.Ok. Keep those sticks in place.I know it has to pass through few roads of Deira only.Anyways I am hiding under desk now...

    When is the part 2.By the by where can I get that Neon coloured lungis in Dubai???

    Coming to your question.

    Mine was arranged.

    Proposal Number 1: Saw the girl in one of the marriage.Yes, the meeting was arranged informally in a wedding where both of our families attended. My assumption came true....Both the mother and the girl got bored of seeing a ""Coloured""( Black is a colour right) man at home, so they wanted a "White-ish" Man. So She escaped.

    Propsal 2: Her father was a district judge. Came with a battalion of Lawyers to my project location.Judge left the lawyers with me as if interested in the beautiful project I was executing. Upon finding me a non-smoker( they offered me a cigar),non-drinking person...lawyers might have given their judgement for the first time in their life to a Judge!!!!LOL.That girl was escaped too.

    Propsal 3: Formally went to see a girl. Till we left the gate, the girl didn't see me eye to eye. WHICH SHE REGRETS NOW and will regret for life!!!LOL. I escaped from girl-hunting,but sink into the system called "Arranged marriage""

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  12. Never Ending Memories: Urs was Love + Arranged huh...the best type of marriage that there is;-D.
    Thank U....I'll try to put it up as soon as I type it out;-).

    Swaram: Oh yes now I remember reading abt this in ur blog;-)

    Lostworld: Nah...after this part it kinda gets tame;-P
    Oh u must blog abt it....and knowing u'll put it across very humourously;-D

    Sindhu: Aaaah u too....the lungis we can overlook but the mush is a must, right;-D.
    And thank U:-))!!!!

    Rakesh: Seriously!!! Joy Allukas has this policy huh...I have to confirm this when I go there next;-D
    And thank U...tho I'm having a few doubts now abt the whole thing... If the husband chances upon this...;-o

    Maddy: Hehe assumptions almost right even tho the step are miscalculated.
    And gosh u remember all the girls & LOL abt propsal 2 & 3;-D
    And neon lungis...even I'm searching for them...wondering where I got the idea people wore them here. Maybe I got this place confused with Saudi;-D

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  13. So funny I loved it...awaiting Part 2 eagerly. You know my story right?

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  14. Oh Nancy, I can't wait to hear the rest of the story! Does the matchmaker still have your picture and can I have her phone number please?

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  15. Purely arranged!!

    But yes this bride seeing thing tests your nerves!!

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  16. Hey this is not fair...why didn't u tell the entire story :(

    prefer guys with mush ...ohhh thank god...nancy chechi u made my day ...now a days these kids in my aprtment were ragging me coz of this

    some time back(almost 5 years back), i went for a pennu kanal(not 4 me ;)) with my cousin....i was very shy that day...so didn't notice anything....but everyone were asking lot of questions 2 me rather than to achachan :)

    so finally nancy chechi smitten by charming achachen ....can visualize the post meeting discussions in family...we mallus rock

    so you are still torchering the poor chetan by reminding him the story of army captain and 3 servants haaa :D :D

    kooduthal paranghu kulamakunnila hehehe....
    anyways that was a superb read ..loved it...k now come up with the rest of the story fast ...we are waiting :D :D

    P.S : 25th birthday u'r parents are better ...coz of someones 22nd b'rthday someone lost his sweetheart some years back ... sigh

    between do they were neon lungis still????

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  17. hey this is incomplete!!..

    am still yet to know!..lol

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  18. oh waiting to hear the next part :)

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  19. hahaha hilarious! lol there are too many favorite lines in there to ctrl+c, ctrl+v here. really fun reading, can't wait for the next one, do put it up soon... like in a few hours :P haha and what's up with "neon-coloured lungis"? lol, got a pic?

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  20. It was getting very interesting and you paused! Now waiting for the next one ;)

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  21. neon coloured lungis?? haha.. rotfl
    loved this one, 'typical u' post.
    now bring on part 2 SOON.
    i had a (boring) love marriage :)

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  22. heh heh heh..loved the way u narrated this..ours was a combined one..love plus arranged :-) Long story again :-)

    I am waiting to read your part 2.

    Cheers
    preeti

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  23. What What what !!!! you cannot leave us hanging like this !! please finish it soon :(.

    Do the guys in Dubai seriously wear neon coloured lungis ????

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  24. hey loved the post - waitin to read the 2nd part.. hope thts final n u don giv a sequel :P

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  25. Not fair! How could you leave the story unfinished!!!

    If my imagination goes crazy - all blame to you :)

    It sounds so lovely! I am so dying to read the rest!

    LOL@ neon coloured lungis in Dubai :)

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  26. NO!!!! You have to tell us the rest of the story- you had me on the edge of my seat. oh my- please don't wait too long to update the next post.

    I'm all for arranged marriages- have seen how well they work- my sister, who has lived in Nepal for more than 35 years- is a FIRM believer in them!! (she herself has never been married- but has facilitated many many many marriages)

    As for my own marriage- it was a 'love' marriage. I don't think he would have chosen me if he had gotten my picture- ha ha- he often says he threw away his list of requirements when he met me coz I never fulfilled any of them- uh oh- but somehow it has ended in neither suicide or murder- at least not yet. :)

    hurry and add the next installment.

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  27. Arrey??? What did you do?
    This is no way to end a post! :(

    I'm so curious. Stop answering comments and write, will you! :p

    Hey, so did the mouche guy say yes? :p

    Lol!

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  28. Sounds interesting, would love to read the second part Nancy. I am guessing your anniversary is around the corner, is it? Mine was a love marriage through and through total filmi ishthyle. :P

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  29. Dying to know what happened next!!! The suspense is a torture! This doesn't sound like a typical arranged marriage... more like a Bollywood love story :)

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  30. Neon coloured lungis??? ... must tell OG where he can get his favourite outfit in neon colours ;)

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  31. unmarried...so can't answer ur million dollar qsn ;)

    i'm a malayalee n i don't have a mush!

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  32. I suddenly turned into a rebel post teenage years,
    parents wanted arranged, I said no to any gurl 'showing'.
    they said photo - I managed to give the crappiest pose possible.
    Wanted to marry someone I know,well.. turns out a friend of years proposed..
    I said yes! his house had no problem, mine.. uff..
    hungama at home.. well.. a long story..finally all agreed.. got married.
    :)

    u tell me ,is mine arranged or love?

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  33. I keep saying the same thing again and again..you have a way with words to bring the magic Nancy:)

    Mine was arranged,My H was so tall and handsome that my whole family fell for him at first sight:)

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  34. Hi Nancy
    Wonderful narration to an equally wonderful/interesting story....but its not fair to leave us imagining the rest on our own....please keep'em coming...eagerly waiting to read the second part.

    Well ours was a love marriage, happily approved and arranged by parents as we were from the same religion and city, both the families equal in almost everything, education, status, standard and all....there was nothing one could oppose to...it was a dream wedding...remembered by people for long time....ummmm you got me all dreamy again and my anniversary is not even around to celebrate....have to find some excuse to celebrate :), on the other thoughts....can do without an excuse, right???

    Well looking forward to your second part :)

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  35. Hey..thats not fair...please write the next part soon...
    being on the verge...eager to know what happened next...:P

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  36. u cannt leave us at a cliffhanger!!! well at least ur parents started a few wks before your 25th bday...mine started even before i turned 23!!! sometimes i think my parents think they like in the 1950s!!

    i have so much to say about this arranged marriage circus...but i think im going to keep shut...maybe ill email u my woes? and u can send me virtual hugs! :)

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  37. ROFL....Nancy, kya drama kardiya kahani ko !!!!!

    Hilarious is not the word....the pic cartoon...neon coloured lungis....me too went to GK Vale to take pics....Give me 5....even it took one look at the photo to decide on marrying S...dont know what I saw in that pic....yeah, mine is arranged marriage....maybe I liked him becos he had a mush that time and I thot mush makes a man look very manly...hehehehe...just loved the whole narration and the story...

    Waiting for part 2. Why do u want to keep us in suspense ??????

    Is your wedding anniversary nearing ??????

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  38. ahha ! ..such a nice post...never knew you were a Malayali,.. looking fwd to the next part.

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  39. who wanted an intermission ? :(
    we call ours a strategy marriage.. met thru jeevansathi-liked each other-got it arranged (strategically)

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  40. this s like those serials where they end the episode just when the most interesting part was to begin. And whats with the mush. But am happy that my mustached mallu brothers have lots of takers out there:)

    Mine was a love marriage where the disapproving parents were left with no choice but to approve.

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  41. awww...lol loved reading this nancy...waiting for part two...ohh boy hehehe.... so he loved the sandpaper voice??? lol
    ahh mine was dramatic i guess being love marraige and all...hehe

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  42. You know, I get the feeling my story is going to be very similar to yours. Could identify with it a lot coz I turned 25 recently and yeah my mom n dad said the same things. :)

    Waiting for the second part eagerly to see how it all turns out...

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  43. This one is cool :D

    I can almost see where it is all leading... post part 2 soon...

    Mine is a long story too...we were at school together from class 5 to 12...he silently loved me all the while...(what's your reaction? how romantic or how silly? hee hee) well...anyway he didn't tell me but post school we stayed in touch through letters and one day, when we were around 20) he proposed..and later sent a pretty senti letter..which I promptly showed my mom...and she said...'what are you waiting for...poor guy...call up and tell yes immediately'.....and I reached for the phone! Now you tell me which category this falls into...I haven't been able to make up my mind!

    And Agnes....I love you... the way you are after that photograph is too cute for words!!! Nance...have some heart!

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  44. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  45. Mine was a love marriage...

    btw m i missing something ?? so many posts about marriages and dowry... ! is it some day ??

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  46. i love these stories as mostly they have happy endings. waiting for part 2. we met through friends/family when both of us were here and went to India to get married. not sure what to call it. arranged .. by us:-)

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  47. Shades of Grey: Not really I know parts of it esp the sad bits;-) but nothing about how u guys met or how u fell in love.

    Agnes: There's no need to hunt down that poor woman;-D. If I've promised, I'll deliver;-(!!!!

    Smita: U r right, I formally saw just one guy and that was nerve-racking enough;-o

    AnishThomas: Hehe why so many doubts abt ur mush...our own Lalettan, Mammukka & Dilip are the finest and famous of moosh examples;-D.
    No doubts abt it...we mallus rock;-D!!!

    Brocasarea: Bear with me....typing it out as fast as I can;-D

    Doli: It will be up as soon as I finish typing it out;-D

    Snow: "neon-coloured lungis"...I vaguely remember my uncles bringing stacks of these bright pink with blue spots lungees sometime in the 80's. Guess those colours had a strong impact on my ideas about the middle east;-D.

    Lakshmi: I intended to put the whole thing up in one post but somehow as I started typing it out I started remembering more and it was getting out of hand. Will put it up soon:-)!!!

    ISH: LOL only u can put it like that...'boring love marriage' huh;-D. So when are u telling us about it??? I for one wd love to read it;-).

    Preethi Shenoy: Love + arranged are the ideal marriages. The freedom to choose the one u want to spend ur life with and the support of ur near and dear ones....what more does one need:-).

    Prashanti: I vaguely remembered my relatives bringing back stacks of BRIGHT multi-colured lungees in the 80's and from then on automatically associated the middle east with that;-D

    Sulo Badri: I too seriously hope that its going to be the final part...sheesh I cant even think of prolonging it;-o. Will put it up soon.

    Smitha: Thank U!!! Its a very tame story after this though I will try to make it interesting within the parameters;-D

    Anjuli: "he often says he threw away his list of requirements when he met me coz I never fulfilled any of them"
    Oh I loved this part of what u wrote...sooo beautiful:-)).
    Will put it up in 2-3 days...weekend coming up tomorrow u see;-P

    Sparkling: Asking me to stop replying to comments is akin to hara kiri of my blog. Comments are what the blog world go around and round;-o.
    The mooche guy is my better-half now....but I dont remember him saying 'yes' as such;-(

    Passionate Goof: Filmi Ishtyle huh...tho u've told us that often enough I dont think think u've ever blogged abt it, right??? Put it up...we'd love read about it;-D

    Indianhomemaker: LOL I guess OG is the first guy 'this part of the blog world' thinks abt when lungees are mentioned;-D. Will put it up as soon as I managed to type it down;-D

    Blunt Edges: No mush...but why???? Malayalee ladki se Shaadi karne ka iraada nahi hai kya;-D

    Swathy: Oh definitely love...hungama and all always reserved for love marriages, that way arranged marriages are sooo boring;-D

    Renu: Thank U, and I have to tell u that I can never get tired of hearing tht again and again;-D
    If I had to tell my story in 1 sentence I surely wd have written the same thing u have;-)).

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  48. Sadiya: Ur wedding sounds like a dream come true...so happy for u. The partner of ur choice and the support of ur family....nothing can beat this combination:-)).
    And celebrate u must:-))!!!!!

    Deep: Will do soon....as soon as I manage to type it down:-)!!!!

    Sunshine: Parents sometimes are in a hurry to settle their children down without realising that the children might have plans of their own. U can mail me anytime..u have the id right!!!

    Ums: Hehe thank U!!!! I wanted to tell u to take this up as a subject & write a post on it. Trying to help u out with ur NabloPoMo:-))!!!

    Ash: Thank U!!!! Hehe even malayalees cant make out that I'm a mal so u dont have to feel too bad;-D. Will put it up soon!!!

    Mindspace: Marriage portal huh. Interesting...have u blogged about it????

    Elizabeth: Have u noticed this...even if they didnt have a mush earlier as it approaches marriagable time they start growing one;-D
    And ur marriage sounds very interesting. When r u going to blog abt it;-)???

    Enigma: No no he almost refused because of that;-D.
    Urs was dramatic huh, have u blogged about it yet????

    Dhanya: LOL I guess in most malayalee households this scene is played out;-D
    Wanted to let u that I wasnt able to comment on ur post....the comment box simply wouldn't open:-(.

    WannabeWriter: This is totally like the 80's movie style love-ishtory...except for the ending ofcourse. No bollywood movie showed scenes where the parents encouraged the children to go ahead tho malayalam movies wd...more realistic huh;-).

    Hitchwriter: Nope no idea. Atleast I wrote it...just like that;-D

    Lan: I too am partial to happy endings:-). Interesting really the many different ways marriages are arranged:-).

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  49. Too much of marriage talk for my poor head! *sigh* why is it that wherever i go ppl talk about marriage ?

    @ about yours... i figured out its ur story when u said 11 years ago ;)

    did your hubby say yes coz he thought you to be paavam type? ;) bolo bolo tell tell ?

    I can verify the mush story.. as i have many mallu friends who think likewise :D

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  50. hmm... time to grow a mush!
    Really loved this post. It seems to come straight out of your soul... it may be on the lighter side, but still touches you. Nice!

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  51. LOL, Nancy, thanks for keeping me in mind, while you wrote the post.

    Maybe I can write something on similar lines - I need to fill in 21 more days !!!! Looks like a humungous effort !!!!

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  52. comeon, where's part 2? :)

    i bet you talked your way into his heart! :D

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  53. hehe bful narration there...

    u mentioned my species in ur post... i am the cross cultural type of love marriages.. both of us hailing from diff states.. my parents were ulti cool about it.. :D he faced some flak but was too stubborn to give up :D

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  54. put the next part up quick :)...can't wait to read it.

    i like clean shave guys :)...you guess right...me not a malayalee girl LOL....I belong to the same religion, different state/culture bandwagon...small glitches to start with but we were not giving in :)

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  55. Winnie: When u r at the age u r people around u start thinking they r actually talking abt a subject u r very interested in. U can do nothing but grin and bear it;-D
    Paavum and me...hehe I was many things but paavum I was not;-D

    Abraham Menacherry, where have u been....good to see u here. As usual u manage a comment which touches my heart. Thank U:-))!!!!
    And oh yes, its high time u grew a mush;-D.

    Umsreflection: It may be that but we know u can do it. My best wishes with u Uma:-))

    Suma: Talking my way out seemed more like it then;-P. Part 2 being typed out as and when possible:-)).

    Amrita: Thank U:-)!!! It is one of Newtons unwritten laws actually...when one set of parents agree the other pair is sure not to;-D

    A: Will put it up soon:-).
    Whats a love marriage without those glitches.....if they werent there it would not have seemed like a love marriage;-D

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  56. Love your writing skills! Can't wait for the next part.

    So many comments, don't even know how you get time to respond to all. But somehow you manage to make everybody feel welcome here.

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  57. Thank U and thank again Nilu :-))!!!!!
    U never said whether urs was love marriage or arranged:-D.

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  58. part 2?part 2??waiting.......

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  59. Thank you, will be waiting!

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  60. I've linked one of your posts. Oh and you've been awarded ! :-)

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  61. I like to think it was a love marriage...but it depends on how you look at it.

    If you want to know the whole story it's here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jleuGk1LVds

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  62. Was I really examining the floor that much??

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  63. Savitha: :-))

    Lostworld: Link away and Thank U for the award:-))!!!

    Nilu: I saw ur video...it was lovely but a small doubt, arent u a malayalee, if yes how come u had never visited Kerala before. And oh almost forgot, the song in the video is one of my favourite... I just need an excuse to hum it all the time:-).

    Butterfly: LOL u r too much...dont u remember;-D.

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  64. Nope, sorry not a Malayalee. I wish, I sooooooooooooo wish! I love everything about you guys....the good, the bad!

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  65. So tell me what made you think I am a Malayalee? (I take it as a compliment that you did!)

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  66. U called ur husband Ikka and generally I seen the muslim wives calling their husbands that in the Malayalam movies;-D
    So tell me which part of India are u from AND why do u wish that u were a malayalee???

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  67. All my sisters-in-law in Kerala call their hubbies "Ikka" & I just followed suit.

    I am from Bangalore(although I did my studies from Mysore).

    I wish I was a Malayalee because I find you are a close-knit community & like I said before, I love everything about you - the food, the place, the people, the language, the music....just everything is so, so special!

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  68. Wow...fellow Bangalorean huh!!! Thumba santoshaa....I can walk Kannada, I can write Kannada and I can understand Kannada aadharae Kannada maathadakae swalpa prablemu...even then I can save my life with Kannada if I have to;-D
    And bahala tanks Malayalees bagae complimentagae;-D

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  69. Oh my God! Now I am sooooooooo jealous of you! Your kannada is definitely better than my Malayalam is ever gonna be! And I was kinda proud of my Malayalam until a few seconds ago!

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  70. lovely post!! :P
    me tamilian, 20, unmarried, not looking :P

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  71. Nilu: LOL;-D

    Mads: Thank U:-))!!!
    Aah 20 is khelne, coodhnae ke din;-D!!!

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  72. aha!so yours was an arranged marriage too?? off to read the 2nd part!
    "guys over there wear neon-coloured lungis."LOL at that remark,Nance! Even I had that impression once upon a time *sigh*

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  73. arre!moderation on again?? waaahhhhhhh!

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  74. LOL Deeps....its not my fault honest, moderation happens automatically after 2 weeks;-D

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  75. oh my, loved loved loved it.... Mine was an arranged marriage - so much like yours! But we had not met my hubs till 10 days prior to our wedding since he was in US!! The day he was to arrive from US, i had decided that i would call it off, come what may if i don't feel what i'm supposed to feel! Well, obv. i didn't! Fell for him the moment i laid my eyes on him!

    I'm glad i'm here so late that i can read part 2 peacefully :P

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  76. Wow urs sound really exciting....dramatic and romantic all rolled in one and yet similar to mine;-).

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  77. Hi Iam Prabhu from chennai,joined today in this forum... :)

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  78. Hi...
    have been reading your older posts now..quite a fan of your writing.
    loved this one, read the next part too...and got inspired to blog on my story..mine was an arranged marriage..do visit my space when you get the time..
    http://mymaidenattempt.blogspot.com/

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