MATRIMONIAL AD

MATRIMONIAL AD

At last he gave in. He did not have strong views on marriage or on whom he would marry. Since he had come back to settle in India, he could not do worse than marry one of his countrywomen. 'All right, Ma, you find me a wife. I'll marry anyone you want me to marry,' he said one day.

His mother did not bring up the subject again for many days. She wrote to her brother to come down to Delhi. The two drafted an advertisement for the matrimonial columns and asked for insertions in two successive Sunday editions of ... It read: 'Wanted a fair, good-looking virgin of a high class respectable family for an Oxford-educated Bengali youth of 25, drawing over Rs 1,000 p.m., in first-class gazetted government service. Applicant should be conversant with H.H. [House Hold] affairs. C and D [Caste and Dowry] no bar. Correspond with horoscope. P.O. Box No. 4200.'

The first insertion brought over fifty letters from parents who enclosed not only the horoscopes of their daughters but their photographs as well to prove that they were fair and therefore good-looking. A fortnight later the applications were sorted out and Sunny's mother and uncle triumphantly laid out nearly a hundred photographs on the large dining table. Their virginity and capacity to deal with household affairs had, of necessity, to be taken on trust. But despite the professed indifference to C and D, the applicants selected for consideration were of the same caste as the Sens and those whose fathers had made offers of substantial dowries. Now it was for Sunny to choose.

This was the first time that Sunny had heard of the matrimonial advertisement. He was very angry and acutely embarrassed as some anxious parents had travelled up all the way from Calcutta, bribed the clerks concerned at the newspaper office and called on him at the office. He told his mother firmly that if it did not stop, he would call off the whole thing. But as he had given his word, he would accept anyone chosen for him. 

(From "A BRIDE FOR THE SAHIB" by Khushwant Singh, a short story in Khushwant Singh: "THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY: COLLECTED STORIES", PENGUIN BOOKS/Ravi Dayal, © Khushwant Singh 2007, 469 pages, ₹399. The collected stories include "KARMA" [Sir Mohan Lal, Lachmi/Lady Mohan Lal, two rough British soldiers Bill [William - William "Shakespeare"/NL?] and Jim [James/PF?; cf. King James Bible], "THE MARK OF VISHNU", "THE INTERVIEW" [American journalist Mr. Stan Towers and his wife Margery and little Pam], "THE MULBERRY TREE" [Vijay, Joy, Joy Adamson, Kipling, Jim [James] Corbett, Inferno, Don Quixote, Rubaiyat, Jai Jagdish Harry!, Omigod [O My God], Gopal, Ganesh, Karuna, Shani devta, Shani-man, Lord Krishna, Hanuman, Iqbal, Shivalinga, Shiva's consort Parvati, Lakshmi the Goddess of Wealth, Karuna Chaudhury, Laila and Majnu, "Vijay was lost for words. He sensed he  might never see her again. And the name Chaudhury yielded no clue. Chaudhurys could be found across the country, from Punjab to Assam, down to the Southern states, and they could be Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, even Christians. The search would be as futile as that of Majnu sifting the sands of the desert to find his Laila. And that was what he felt like - a lovesick Majnu"], "THE MAHARANI OF CHOOTIA PURAM" etc. The book is dedicated to Naina: "For Naina, the apple of my eye". Intriguingly, the name of the crying fallen female angel in "Fallen Angel Talks of Hell's Torment!!! REPENT!!! Hell is Real!!!/ Prophets Among Us (18:19) YouTube is NAINA!! - G]

Kishalay Sinha কিশলয় সিনহা किशलय सिन्हा जी [G], W.P.

We did not ask for a single paisa as dowry from the "dad" of My consort Swarna Lakshmi (= Golden Goddess of Wealth; her ostentatious name is enough to convince Me of dubious personalities of her parents etc.). To ask for any "dowry" would be damn unthinkable. Beneath our dignity, My "dad" being "Krishna", Me being G.

G

Seeing "blind" eyes - hearing "deaf" ears - could speak but a "dumb" girl - Helen of Troy (?) became blind, deaf, and dumb Helen Keller (sounds like Killer) in her American rebirth slash reincarnation... (see YouTube) - G