CONTOURS OF A PREDICAMENT
(By Subbaram Danda)
Sahitya had posh qualifications – M.Tech. in Information Technology and M.B.A. She held a well-paid job in a multinational corporation. With captivating looks, she was bold but not brash, quick-witted but not quirky. Though she had a mod outlook, she respected her parents, who were overly conservative, religious-minded and ritual-bound.
Sahitya turned 25. Only daughter, her parents started looking for an alliance for her. On an auspicious day her father approached a broker and collected some horoscopes. He shelled out Rs.10,000 towards registration charges and for the horoscopes.
He consulted an astrologer famous in their locality. In a voice bristling with warmth he said, “I will straightaway suggest a compatible alliance for your daughter out of the horoscopes you have brought. We charge Rs.1,000 as our fee. You can leave the amount in the brass bowl over there.”
Grim afflictions
The astrologer studied Sahitya’s horoscope. His face turned grim. He said, “It has several inimical factors. In particular, its seventh and eighth houses are occupied by malefic planets. Because of this, her would-be husband’s life will be compromised, if proper attention is not paid to selecting him. What is required is a similarly afflicted horoscope, which will be rare.” Then he went through the horoscopes given to him and rejected all.
He made a suggestion: “The chances of your getting a suitable alliance will be better if you do propitiating rituals. Please check with my assistant to know how to go about it.” The news produced mixed reaction in Sahitya. She did not care for the astrologer’s words but to please her parents she agreed for the rituals.
The broker provided some more horoscopes and collected more money. The astrologer rejected all of them and received his fees. “You have to be patient. There is no other go,” he advised him. The process of visiting the astrologer continued without any results.
Two years passed. At the office, Sahitya had brilliant tidings. She had been receiving “outstanding” rating in her performance evaluation reports every year. Her boss offered to send her to the United States for a month-long overseas orientation. But her parents stood in the way and said assertively, “Your marriage is our first priority. Get married and go anywhere you like. We want it to be on traditional lines. We do not encourage adventures.”
Love failure
At Sahitya’s office the common dining hall was the bee hive of all gossip. The latest piece of news was that her senior colleague Mohan had been deserted by his long time fiancée. She was forced by her parents to marry a man of their choice. Since then he had become depressed and was not mingling with others freely. “This is the fate of a really decent person,” many employees commented.
Sahitya’s father continued to make his visits to the astrologer. But the outcome remained negative. On the advice of a neighbour he changed the astrologer. The new man wanted her to light a lamp at the idol of Mars in the shrine of “Navagrahas” (nine planets) on nine Tuesdays. This also Sahitya complied with. But, nothing emerged.
Sahitya’s father registered her biodata and horoscope with a leading matrimonial website and also with a well-known marriage bureau. There was not much of a response. “People are scared of her horoscope,” was the reason given. Following a friend’s advice, she wore two gem-studded rings. Nothing happened. Her father responded to matrimonial advertisements in newspapers. It did not help either.
Two more years rolled by. Sahitya was disenchanted.
Hitler’s lie
To unfathom her predicament, she met a reputed psychologist, who was also a sociologist. Providing him with her biodata, she told him: “My father has been looking for an alliance for me for the past several years without any success. According to astrologers, people shun me because of malefic planetary configurations in my horoscope. Is there any scientific basis for what the astrologers say?"
He took a close look at her. She was charmingly good-looking, well-educated and decently employed. It was a pity that she was not yet married.
He replied: “I am reminded of the German dictator Adolf Hitler’s famous dictum – Tell a lie again and again. Make it big. Eventually people will believe it. Lie automatically becomes truth. Even assuming that a particular prediction is a conjecture, repeated pronouncements would make it sound true. People believe it and never bother to probe its veracity scientifically. They are not prepared to take risks, especially when somebody’s life is in jeopardy. The easiest option for them is to look elsewhere. There are many girls around without the malefic factors.”
God’s prophesy?
Sahitya wanted to probe further. She called on a well-known spiritual guru. Without mincing words, she asked him, “Swamiji, is there any divine sanction behind predictions? Why do astrologers link Gods and temples with their predictions?”
The guru sported a smile and replied: “No astrological prediction can be construed as God’s prophesy. It is not ordained by God. There is no guarantee that a particular prediction will come true. Astrology is different and temple worship is different. Sincere prayer to God, coupled with good behaviour, will certainly mitigate any hardship.”
Sahitya felt relieved.
At her office Mohan regained his old composure and started mixing with all as usual. “This is not the end of the world,” he appeared to convey. An elderly lady colleague of Sahitya, with whom she had shared her matrimonial melancholies, suggested that she could consider marrying him. “He is a gem, take my word. He insists on no horoscopes, nothing.” But, Sahitya did not like the idea of marrying a man, who had already loved somebody else.
One more year passed without any development on her matrimonial front. On returning home one evening, she noticed a pair of shoes in front of closed doors of her apartment. She could vaguely hear the voices of people talking inside. She strained herself to catch the conversation.
At tether’s end
The visitor was her uncle. Her father was speaking: “Next week Sahitya will turn 30. Unfortunately, no alliance is materializing for her. We have been scouting for five long years. In fact, I am getting fed up going to the broker, matrimonial bureau and the astrologer.”
Her uncle interjected: “True, let us face the realities of the situation. Marriage is not the be all and end all of life. God appears to have ordained her to remain single. Let her be so. There are several middle-aged women in our neighbourhood who are not married. You and your wife should also have somebody to look after you in your twilight years. Moreover, you are a retired person without much income now. Her earnings are necessary for you.”
Her father: “I am also getting inclined to think on those lines.” At this stage, Sahitya knocked on the door. Her mother opened it. Next moment her uncle left the place after greeting her gingerly.
That night Sahitya did not sleep well. Her present predicament haunted her. Propitiation rituals and gems were of no use. People’s blind faith in what astrologers said appeared unshakable. She recalled the conversation between her father and her uncle. Tears swelled in her eyes. The last words of her father proved the last straw on the camel’s back. She mustered courage and decided that she should do something herself to break the gridlock.
Crisis management
She marshalled her crisis management skills. True, several negative factors were working against her. At the same time, she was not hopelessly helpless. There were a few positive factors, which she could mobilize to her advantage -- her good educational background, her official track record, possibility of new foreign assignments, money in her savings account and a few good friends.
Next day, shortly before lunch time in her office, there was a call from her director. “Would you mind seeing me for a minute?” With trepidation she met him. He told her: “I have good news for you. You have been selected for a year-long project in London. I know in the past you have rejected a foreign assignment. The present one you should not turn down in your career’s interest. We have selected Mohan also for a similar parallel position there. Let me know by tomorrow.”
Thoughts flashed in Sahitya’s mind. She felt her parents had imprisoned her within the four walls of their rigid conservatism and blind beliefs. They could not find a suitable match for her. Neither would they allow her to seek her life-partner herself. They had prevented her from going to a foreign country even once. Yet, she loved and obeyed them sincerely, but how long could she put up with their ways.
Welcome break
Without hesitation she replied: “Yes sir, I accept the offer. Thanks a lot.” He was surprised at her instant response. “Okay. I am arranging for necessary papers. After visa formalities, you will be leaving next week. Good luck!”
Sahita knew that Mohan would also be flying with her. He was a decent guy. But, she would like to keep him at a respectable distance.
A week rolled by fast. At the airport, as Sahitya’s parents waved her “good bye,” tears swelled in their eyes. She remained stoic. But on board the aircraft she wept uncontrollably. Mohan, who sat next to her, tried to console her but she remained indifferent.
In London, they stayed in two adjacent studio-type flats. Mohan picked her up daily and drove her to office in a car he had bought there. Sahitya never assisted him in anything, as that would mean sending wrong signals to him. Once when she fell ill, he abstained from going to office, took her to the doctor and looked after her.
Unexpected alliance
Meanwhile, Sahitya’s parents started sending her e-mails from a browsing centre and kept her informed of developments at home. Her responses were few and far between.
One day she received an e-mail that startled her. They had located an alliance for her in London itself. The horoscopes of the two matched well. They wanted her to agree to this proposal.
Sahitya was in a dilemma. On the one hand, she was in no mood to accept horoscope-based alliances. On the other, she was not prepared to remain single lifelong. What was the course open to her? She called Mohan and invited him to tea at a restaurant nearby that evening. She told him she wanted to discuss an important matter with him. Surprisingly, there she proposed to him and he accepted willingly. Here was a person, she reasoned, who cared for her unsolicited and unselfishly, despite her cold-shouldering him.
Sahitya-Mohan wedding took place in an Indian temple in the presence of close friends. She e-mailed her wedding photos to her parents with a message, “I know I am breaking conventions, which did no good to me. I am confident I will lead a happy life with Mohan, despite the malefic afflictions in my horoscope. Certainly, God will be on our side.”
Novel and noble
One evening the newly-married couple took a stroll on a promenade by the Thames. They recalled their immediate past. Both of them were victims of circumstances, brought about by miscarriage of love or unflinching adherence of elders to archaic practices.
Soft waves of the majestic flowing river, scattered clouds painted in shades of crimson by the setting sun and cool breeze caressing them set their thoughts soaring.
The two figured out that there would be hundreds of disenchanted persons like them suffering silently in their native city, thousands in their state and tens of thousands in their country. “This cannot go on,” they averred. “It should change. Something should be done. God, show us the way,” they prayed silently.
On completion of their foreign project the two returned to India. The first thing they did was to set up a Research Institute for Matrimonial Compatibility. One of its special programmes was a free service to evaluate, through stringent psychological tests, compatibility of alliance-seeking men and women for a lasting marital relationship. It also insisted on blood tests for the prospective bride and the groom to rule out existence of AIDS and other life-threatening diseases in any of them. It further recommended Police verification of their antecedents. Independent observers hailed the programme as “a noble service par excellence.” Within a year it hit high popularity charts.
October 06, 2012.
(2,070 words)
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