I found my friend and her husband in a despondent mood when I went to visit them last. And when I asked them the reason for it, both of them replied in one voice, “It’s about our son.” Fearing something dreadful had happened I waited for them to tell me about it.
“It’s about his marriage”, the father said. “I want to celebrate his marriage this season itself. He is 27 years old already and I am unable to find a suitable bride.”
I almost laughed both in relief and at the absurdity of the problem.
Their son was slim, tall, fair and had a very good job. And his was just the right age for marriage. Anyone should be thrilled with such an alliance. My friend brought out a file which was packed with all the replies they had received. “We are a little conservative and so we advertised for a girl belonging to our own caste”, the father continued. I looked through the file. The qualifications of the girls were listed, the date of birth and the star under which the girl was born, and some applications had a photograph of the girl. My friends had shortlisted five applications. I went through them and found that all the five were acceptable .
“What’s your problem? You can make up your mind and choose one of the five,” I said.
“We did,” said the wife.
“So what happened?” I asked. Their son was indeed a very suitable bridegroom.
There was dead silence. None of them spoke for a while. Then the mother took out the first of the papers and said, “She asked us exactly what our son was earning. And when we proudly mentioned the figure, she said she was looking out for someone who earned more because she earned exactly what our son did and that was no good.”
What about the girl, the software engineer? I asked.“After all your son is in the same profession”. “Oh! she”, said the husband. “She has applied for a job in Abu Dhabi and was sure of getting it. Would our son join her there after the wedding? She could easily get him a job. She had influence,” she noted proudly.
He was their only son so I knew that this was not possible. “What about this girl?” I asked, “She looks very smart and pretty?”
“Impossible”, said the father. She says she is an independent, young woman and would not share a home with the in-laws.”
“And the next?” I persisted. “The girl in the fourth application made the most ridiculous requests like sharing all expenses.” “And the fifth, what about the fifth?” I asked. “The fifth girl was happy with our son’s job, his looks. She paid us a visit and when she looked at our life style, she lost all interest in the alliance,” said the father. “Times have changed so much,” said the mother. “These days it looks as if the girl chooses the bridegroom instead of the bridegroom choosing the bride.” It looks as if the wheel has come a full circle.