Reading group guide for The Marriage Bureau For Rich People by Farahad Zama Introduction In The Marriage Bureau For Rich People, Farahad Zama writes in a deceptively simple style to tell a romantic tale set against the exotic culture of beautiful, coastal South India, where arranged marriages are still the norm in a turbulent nation struggling towards modernity while holding hard to ancient traditions and customs. In brief Mr Ali is bored in retirement and quickly starts to disturb the settled order of his wife’s days. To give himself a much-needed project he opens a marriage bureau to help parents find partners for their children. He soon needs an assistant and it is down to Mrs Ali to find him one – a local girl called Aruna. Many clients walk in through the doors to keep them busy: among them, a man who wants a tall husband for his short daughter, a divorced woman who soon wants to thank them even though they did not find her a partner, a salesman who doesn’t seem to be able to sell himself, and a wealthy, handsome doctor for whom no match is ever quite perfect enough. Meanwhile, things are not going so smoothly behind the scenes. Aruna is helping clients find love and happiness even though her own engagement has broken down because of her family’s financial circumstances, with the result that it doesn’t look as if she will ever get married as now her father has given up looking for a husband for her. Mr Ali wants his son to settle down to a nice career and lead a comfortable life. Unfortunately, Rehman is not interested. He has become a social activist and is fighting on behalf of poor farmers whose lands are being taken away from them so that a huge multinational can build a factory. Aruna has to struggle against tradition to find bliss while Mr Ali has to fight against his prejudices to reconcile with his son. And is Mrs Ali really the quiet housewife that she seems to be, or is she playing a bigger role to bring about these happy outcomes? Commentary ‘After retiring, you have been like an unemployed barber who shaves his cat for want of anything better to do,’ Mrs Ali tells her husband. So, Mr Ali opens a marriage bureau to keep himself busy. His first advertisement claims, ‘For widest choice among Hindu, Muslim, Christian Brides and Grooms, contact…’ This is not true, of course, as there is not a single name in his files yet, but that doesn’t prevent Mr Ali from casting a wide net in the melting pot of India’s various vibrant communities. With Mr Ali’s strong belief in advertising and a bit of blag, the business soon becomes successful. Meanwhile Mrs Ali is cooking up idlis, dosas and fish fry at the same time as helping domestic servants in trouble. The lovely Aruna joins the marriage bureau as the assistant to Mr Ali. Although young and attractive, she wouldn’t qualify as a client because her already poor family has just suffered another financial catastrophe and so there’s no money to find her a husband. As street hawkers and dusty bus journeys evoke the hot South Indian landscape, the bureau’s many clients include Irshad, the slightly comic valve salesman who just cannot sell himself, and Ramanujam, a handsome doctor whose family is looking for a beautiful and educated bride for him. This stunning bride must also to bring in a dowry of at least one crore (ten million) rupees and, despite her intelligence and education, be happy to move in with her in-laws and remain a housewife… The Marriage Bureau For Rich People is funny in places and poignant in others as it brings to life an exotic and yet somehow alarmingly familiar country where the old certainties are being challenged by the forces of modernity. ‘Things have changed,’ says Mr Venkat, a client. ‘I blame it on movies myself.’ Author Biography Farahad Zama was born in Vizag on the Eastern Coast of India. Until he was twelve, he lived in a house smaller than Aruna’s. After college he moved to Mumbai to work for an investment bank, and an arranged marriage to a Vizag girl soon followed. His career took them to New York, Zurich and finally brought them to London for six months in 1993. Years later, they live still in South London where they are now the parents of two boys. The Marriage Bureau For Rich People is Farahad’s first novel. It is being translated into eight languages, an option for the film rights is under discussion, it was shortlisted for the 2009 Nibbie for Waterstone’s First Novel and for the published fiction category at the 2009 Muslim Writers Awards, and it won the 2009 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance Writing. Points for discussion 1. Setting up a 'marriage bureau' is in some ways a very traditional undertaking, enforcing strict marriage customs. Mr Ali upholds these traditions, but he also openly speaks of his broadminded views on religion and marriage. Discuss several instances when Mr Ali acts traditionally, and when he acts more liberally, and how you think this affects his business.  2. Mrs Ali is frequently pictured running back into the house when clients arrive to attend to her cleaning. Yet she can also handle a crisis with poise and indeed often thinks of a cunning solution before her husband does. How does this dual image of Mrs Ali as both a demure housewife and smart businesswoman relate to the overall portrayal of women and gender roles in the novel? Are these qualities evident in other female characters? 3. At one point Aruna protests at 'being shown off to various people like a prize cow at a cattle mandi' as her family tries to arrange a marriage for her. However, the book also shows many successful arranged marriages. In your opinion, can arranged marriage work in modern society?  4. Is it fair of Aruna's father to stop looking for a match for her? Is he being selfish, as Shastry-Uncle claims, or is he trying to protect Aruna against false hopes? What would you do in Aruna's father's position? 5. Mr Ali encourages Irshad to present the facts in a certain light: 'Think of yourself as a product - a valve, an important but unglamorous valve... it is your job to convince her that you are just the right product.' Is this deceptive? Or were there elements you could recognise from your own experiences of marriage or dating? 6. By the end of the story Mr Ali realizes that he wants to improve relations with his son. Why do you think he finally relents and invites Rehman back to the house? If Rehman's campaign had failed, do you think his father would have reacted differently?  7. Throughout the novel there are glimpses of the problems of the outside world: Leela's poverty, how widows and divorcees are treated in Indian society, and Rehmen's protests to protect the farmers. Choose one of these topics to discuss. Why does the author weave these issues into a comic novel about marriage? What comment is he making about Indian society? 8. Food plays a big part in the novel (there is even a recipe at the back of the book): did this add to your enjoyment of the story? 9. Aruna's story is Cinderella-esque; Aruna and Ramanujam not only overcome their parents' expectations, but also an entrenched class system to be together. Discuss the happy ending, and how issues of class recur throughout the novel.   10. Farahad has said that the Marriage Bureau for Rich People pays homage to Jane Austen. What similarities do you see between the Marriage Bureau and Pride and Prejudice, Aruna and Elizabeth Bennet, or between Indian and English culture?  11. How does Farahad use comedy? How would you describe the humour in this novel? Suggested further reading In writing this book, Farahad has been inspired by a number of sources with their origins in Urdu, Telugu, Sanskrit, and Tamil that are not easily accessible to a western audience. However, some books in English that a reader might find echoes in The Marriage Bureau for Rich People are: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (of course!) Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (the novel, not the Disney animation, wonderful though that is) Gora by Rabindranath Tagore Swami and Friends by R K Narayan The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith