The engagement

I have been reading quite a few of the engagement stories of late(I am reading all the old posts...) and decided to recall mine here.
I could very well be a member of Tharini's Green Sulk Club for I had the typically old-fashioned arranged South Indian marriage. It was almost a year since I finished college and joined one of the Indian software giants through the much-hyped campus placements. Like any other budding, normal software professional, I was dreaming of a trip abroad at the company's expense. Normal working hours were between 8:30 AM and 10 PM. I was working for an extremely busy project with tight deadlines that life outside work was almost nil.
In the midst of this, my aunt started the 'horoscope-matching' and look out for eliglible boys for my cousin, who was 2 years younger to me. My parents were level-headed, not too much bothered by the process. But people dont leave you alone if you are happy where you are and other relatives started pestering my parents to start looking out for matches for me. I was least bothered, given that I hardly spent much time at home. So some time in July '03, mom declared that she had placed an advertisement in the newspaper's matrimonial columns.
As an aside, we know that these ads would yield nothing, given that we had placed ads atleast half a dozen times for my older cousin in 2 years, who had her own set of demands which were never fulfilled by the so called eligible batchelors.Anyway, the ad appeared and the horoscopes poured in at my parents place. My parents selected a few that they felt were most eligible, passed them to me for 'approval' and then went on to 'talk' further with the boy's parents. Horoscopes were matched and the ones that did not were discarded. The funny things about ads/profiles which my cousin and I would laugh over -

• All boys were invariably from Bay area, CF
• They were always school/university toppers - yes all of them!!
• Photos would always be in front of the poshest car in the car park that they never owned.
• They would always be very fair(brown) and very tall(5'6") according to the parents.

Among them eligible boys were those of doctors, engineers, lawyers(!), architects, teachers, professors and what not.
Among the few that my parents finally shortlisted was a doc, working/living in Chennai(oh, what a relief. I can continue to work in the same place without having to move cities and jobs). After a few converastions with my future in-laws, it was decided that the girl-boy seeing had to be done almost immediately, for I was supposedto be leaving abroad for work within 2 weeks. So the in-laws, who are living in Bangalore decide to come to Chennai - to live with their son for a week and also finalize the match making during their trip.
Man proposes, but fate disposes, for my mother, who's a bank manager, was off for a training to Manipal in Karnataka for a week. And so the in-laws who had planned their trip to Chennai decided to postpone until mom returned. At the end of the same week, I was leaving the country not to return for a minimum of 6 months. This was an opportunity not to be lost according to the elders in the house. They declared that we finish this girl-boy viewing within the same week. But how could we do it. The boy's parents were not around, the girl's mom was away. So the only involved parties around were the girl's father, the girl and the boy.
My in-laws graciously permitted us to visit the boy - given that the boy was living alone, he could not come alone to see me at my place. But allowed us to visit him. Remember the girl is not supposed to talk to the boy before this event. So that thursday evening taking special permission to leave by 5 PM at work, I left - all dressed up for the occassion to meet the boy. Dad and I caught got in the famous Kathipara junction traffic and the 20 minute ride turned into an hour and a half. Not nice if you are getting the man to wait this long. Neway reached his house by 8 PM finally.

This is proving to be a very long one. So to be cont.....d