Horoscopes and match making...

, , 13 comments
Well, its just an obsession this minute. As I struggle to start my next weekly report which I have to submit in less than 12 hours from now, my mind wants to type some random crap in the blog. So here I go...
Hmm....indha rendu jathagamum nanna porundhirku, 90% poruttham, aana idhu vendaam, ivvalukku kalyanam panni vechelnaa eppomey sandai pottundrupaa... So rambles on the astrologer (not that I've seen him do this, but I'm sure my karpanai is right!). I can almost picturise the scene perfectly. My mom and dad exchanging looks, nodding vigorously, noting everything down, putting back the horoscopes into that green bag specially set apart for this purpose....boy, I can make a whole movie with this script!
And as they return home to tell my grandparents whatever the astrologer said and start discussing the possibility of an alliance with that "90% porunthina boy", I groan. What a business! The whole prospect of getting my sister married off to a guy, with good qualification, "decent" background, in India, "proper" background, blah blah....god only knows when they will change. Ok, see all these things to a certain limit, but when amma comes back and discusses with patti saying the boy will be a -------- engineering student, will be based in -------, I think why the astrologer left to mention his name so we can easily filter the horoscopes which flood our way. And boy, look at all those endless prospects we get every day! Pakkathaathu mami, melaathu mami, paatu mami, and who not! Horoscopes which didn't match for one girl exchanged with ours, height differences, weight, did the boy's parents get back, how they sound....oh my god, I feel dizzy.
And no offences meant, as though these troubles aren't enough, there is this "boy's side" which sometimes adds fuel to my irritation - "Can you please send the girl's photograph with the horoscope after you match it with my son's?"Bloody, why can't they send the photograph of their son with his horoscope? On top of all this, a statement like "Oh, glasses? Hmm..my son doesn't prefer glasses.." The glasses are hers and not your son's, sir. If he will be that bothered, why not he get her lenses after the marriage? Again, I know there are girls who could get this fussy too, but its just from another girl's view so it'll be biased, so forgive me, and don't get offended! :) The one thing I can't understand is why parents put up with all this trouble even though they don't like such comments too. Then there is this culture of the "boy's side" not getting back even after the horoscopes match. It ultimately takes a number of calls from home to actually know that the horoscopes have matched and that they have to ask the boy if they can proceed. Heck, if they don't get back, isn't it a sign that it's something they are not interested in? And surely my sister doesn't need a home which will not take the initiative and interest to pursue a simple thing as horoscope?
Well, I try to get all these feelings of mine across to my parents, but all that their looks tell me are "Your opinion is not asked for in this matter; you may go to your room." Boy, I'm old enough to give my opinions on these matter, I tell them. No effect. My next retort is to threaten them that they better not try all these gimmicks with me. If you do, I warn, I'll bring a chapta boyfriend home and marry him!
That's enough.
INTO YOUR ROOM!
Well, the door closes...
And it's high time this blog does, too.
Back to Influence of transnational television on Asian culture.
Bye.

13 comments:

Sandhya Ramachandran said...

Hi Vans...
Reading your blog just now. Will add a link to my site.TAke care.
Love you as always!!!

Chakra said...

hi..

hav been reading your posts for the last couple of weeks. very well written..

these horoscopes & matchmaking stuff.. understandable that this grind is annoying for our generation..

Vani Viswanathan said...

yeah, right..
we do find it irritating, but will we stop it at least?
no way, lemme tell all you guys there in the US, its gonna be a really lucrative profession soon there, with a huge following, probably like the yoga!

The Last Blogger said...

I think there was a similar conversation in another blog I read recently. Nevertheless, I understand the grind a girl in India is made to go through for getting her married. It is extremely irritating from any perspective, not just a girl's and the pressure is tremendous. Even when my girlfriend and I had been dating for a while and were getting ready to get married, she was made to go through a whole load of crap. She fought, screamed and what not. To no avail.

Somethings unfortunately never change. You can have it your way in some minor things but the big picture is always the same. :(

saranyan r said...

Enna Ezhavo, people still believe in this crap. I mean, its impossible to convince our parents too (I'm having a tough time now :)).
I remember a mama asking me at the Malibu temple "Un appa amma adrress kodupa, therinjava ponnu jathagam anuparen. Ponnu inga thaan irukka, california la". I was dumbfounded! He doesn't even want to tell me who the girl is, but wants the horoscope through. I stopped talking to him after that.
and yeah, when in the market, suddenly you will start getting horoscopes from all mamis and mamas :)

Vani Viswanathan said...

hmm..
all these elderly people kedutthufy their image by doing all this nonsense work...
we'll hope for things to go better...i'm quite sure this will never ever get eliminated..probably if we grow up, we too won't want to take that chance, maybe we'll think "edhukku vambu? pesama jadhagam paathudalaame?" ;)

Twin-Gemini said...

Ok, would you like to hear the other side of the story? :-) This is going to be fun.

I am in the "market" and these are some personal incidents.

*When the guy's side show some interest initially (due to several reasons: the boy is interested, horoscope matches well, guy desperately needs to get married - maybe because of his Green Card issues, or maybe due to other reasons), then the girl's side start to show attitude (maybe they think something is wrong with the guy) and it takes a lot of phone calls from the boy's side to get things going. So I have asked my parents to show the traditional attitude and things seem to be working fine.

*We get some proposals where the girl is ready with an I-20 and the guy is expected to sponsor the girl for her MS - nanga ellam illachavayangala :-) ... Whatever hapens after the marriage is between the guy and the girl, but conditions like this before the marriage is a certain no-no. Nowadays nobody takes dowry or anything like that (as most of the grooms are either staying abroad or get a handsome salary), but this thing is turning into a reverse-dowry.

*If the boy's/girl's side doesnt get back, then that most probably means the boy/girl isnt too interested in the proposal or thinks it's too early to get married - then that takes some persuasion from the boy's/girl's parents and hence the delay. I have done something similar so now I can understand the pain at the girl's side. Dank you for opening my eyes.

*About glasses, that could be an individual preference, so cant reply to that. This works both ways; I have got a comment for my glasses.

*Now about horoscope matching...This is one of the best things that I like about our culture. I believe more in it, than my parents. Horoscope matching basically tells you if two people are compatible in their thoughts, actions and such.
I am not against love marriages, but I have seen that a properly matched horoscope leads to a better compatibility.

Vani Viswanathan said...

Well, thanks for the other side of the story, though I'll still not vittukuduthify...looks like there's a good feminist in the making here in me!
And of course, its not about beliefs in horoscope but the extent to which you believe..true, most of the arranged marriages work well, i'm not against the horoscope matching ceremonies, but surely there's a limit! so we'll see where this leads to!!!

Roberto Iza Valdés said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

My hobby is astrology. To help our people who want horoscope matching, I do it free over the internet. Horoscope matching is never the starting point of any match making.

Anonymous said...

I match horoscopes free over the internet for the past several years. I can tell you the horoscopes are not the starting point of any marriage.The parents first examine the boy's bio data and see whether it matches with their aspirations. Then horoscope is matched. This again is not the end point.Lot more research is done by both parents on mutual suitability.Then the boy is introduced to the girl.If they do not like each other, the proposal is dropped.Why then blame astrology and horoscopes?

Roberto Iza Valdés said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

hi,
Nice 2 c such a bold and real situational comment. I agree with you. But I wish to correct one thing in your matter. It's about exchanging Horoscopes. Anywhere, the tradition in our Hindu community is to see the match at gal's home comes first. It's to avoid falling of such important matters into some wrong people.
Ofcourse, gals do have many options in finalising their guys after all family formalities has completed. I am sure about this. Bcoz that happened for my sister too.
I am totally agree with you. It means that goin to an astrologer for match is not a workse thin in life. But dont fall to them and dont admire of them. That's my kind request to all elders