minded and don’t mind staying in a joint family.I reached for my cellphone—to call my mother and blast her. I resisted the urge and read on.
I can cook North Indian cuisine quite well. I have one elder sister who is already
married and well-settled in Delhi. My parents have no other liabilities. My father
retired from a respected position in State Bank of India and my mother is a housewife.
We are well off and can do a high-status wedding.My eyebrows shot up. I read the next section.
I am looking for a well-qualified, well-settled suitable match from a good Punjabi
family. Someone who will look after my family and me and respect elders. If interested
please respond with details about you, including horoscope or date and time of birth.
Regards, Radhika Mehta.‘Seriously? Mom, seriously?’ I said out loud. I closed the shaadi.com window. I had to call mom and
talk, or rather shout at her. I couldn’t do that in the office. I packed my laptop in my Tumi bag and
stood up.
‘I am going to get lunch,’ I told Patricia and left the office.
I went out on Fleet Street and found Itsu, a Japanese-inspired healthy fast-food chain. I
ordered a vegetables and brown rice potsu pot and sat down to eat. Fork in one hand and phone in the
other, I called my dear mother. I charged at her as soon as she answered.
‘Mom, what are you doing?’
‘What?’ she said, surprised.
I loaded my profile on my laptop screen.
‘I saw the profile.’
‘Liked it?’
How do you even begin to answer that?
‘Mom, are you serious? What is this?’
‘Why? I wrote what will get you the best response. Sharma aunty next door helped me.’
‘It’s horrible, mom. Really, who is this person you have written about? It is not me.’
‘What are you are saying? It is you 100 per cent. Isn’t your height five feet four inches?’
‘Mom, first of all, the picture is terrible.’
‘It’s what I had. Send me a better one. We should have done a portfolio when you had come
here.’
‘I will send you one from here.’
‘Send one in Indian clothes.’
‘Why?’
‘Are you stupid? Are you going to send me a picture in your office suit? Are you applying for
a job?’
‘It’s who I am.’
‘Stop it, Radhika. Is the picture the only problem?’
‘There are a million problems. Let me start. What is “quite fair”? Tell them my real
complexion. Say I am wheatish or whatever.’