Sonali’s Suitors

Epilogue

My name is Sonali Venkatramananan Iyer. My parents came to Canada when I was only three years old to pursue the golden opportunities that lay past this nation’s gates. Hence, there’s not much I remember about my birthplace Chennai, situated within Tamil Nadu. I have only heard stories from my parents describing our long-standing cultural values and all the aesthetic beauty that resides there.

To this day my parents still remain very much attached to their roots and as a result have not shed their inherent cultural traditions. Although in appearance they have adopted the dressing sense and grooming of westernized societies their mind remains fixated on thoughts of India. For instance, I awake each morning to the soundtrack of the gayathri devotional hymn my mother, Parvati, plays at dawn. She even maintains a small but neat altar for her deities on a shelf in the closet to offer prayers. My father, Venkatramanaan Iyer, wakes up each morning and offers his heartfelt prayers to the sun before going off to take a light shower.

In contrast, at times they appear modern in the way they think. My father was a very broad-minded individual with an excellent sense of humour, always re-inventing himself to adapt to the times. My mother, a passionate women’s rights activist feels strongly that men and women should be given equal importance in a family household. As per her wish, my father has always discussed any decision pertaining to the family with my mother, and at times with us, the children, if such an occasion arose.

It was through such a family discussion that I learned of their opinion that I was of marriageable age at twenty-four and that they hoped to start looking for suitors for me. They explained that it was ultimately up to me to decide who I would like to marry, but that they would appreciate it if I selected a good Indian boy. That is when it struck me how much of an impact the Indian soil had in their upbringing. Having been raised an Indo-Canadian, I wasn’t sure I could fathom this bondage. I had no plans for marriage at present and was working towards a MBA degree at Rotman’s school of business. I couldn’t even think of starting a new life at this time. I didn’t even know if I wanted to marry a ‘good Indian boy’ to say the least.
They both waited for my response, seated attentively on the divan. I didn’t know how to break it to them that I wasn’t interested. I guess I could play at seeing some prospective grooms for a while, rejecting them or having them reject me to satisfy my parents’ enthusiastic efforts. They couldn’t really be that set upon marrying me off, now could they?

I did not know then that my play at seeing prospective grooms was likely to turn my entire life upside-down.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 05.11.2011

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