Marriage: Made in Heaven?

Tastes of people keeps changing or evolving over time. Change is the only constant they say. Similarly aspirations of people also keep changing or rather progressing over time. And this can be gauged and noticed by peoples’ preference or choice of products – especially Cars.

Recognizing the change in peoples’ preference for better looking cars, most of the leading car manufacturers rolled out Car models, last year that scored many brownie points on the “Looks” front. It was not very long ago that people preferred cars with better mileage than looks and features. Of course, because of intense competition among car companies, the “Features” aspect was not overlooked altogether. Each car claimed to be different with small cosmetic features added/modified. Not to discount the fact that cars vied with each other for better emission norms. So car companies did show some concern for the environment.

“Looks’ and “Beauty” is the same right? So are we Indians going the Beauty way of Life? Yes, I think so. Now the reason for that strong belief stems from the fact that we now attach higher priority for beauty in anything that we buy, at times, ignoring the underlying faults in the system/product. We tend to buy things that are packaged beautifully in a ready-to-use format.

Sometime back, I visited a Consumer Exhibition in Chennai. One stall was selling an “Insecticide” that promised to keep away small flies and lizards from the room. I shudder to think of sleeping in a room infested by lizards. Who would not? And the product was priced attractively at Rs.20 for a pack of four. I knew that there was not a single insecticide in India that was formulated/manufactured/sold to tackle the ubiquitous lizard. The thought of lizard was a compelling reason and the package was tempting. So I bought a pack of four. And as instructed, stuck, the insecticide-filled-box on the tube-light [fluorescent] frames in all the rooms. The next morning, I saw two entwined-lizards sleeping next to that. I felt cheated. It made me realize my weakness for beauty that prevented me to exercise my power-of-intelligence – to whatever small degree that I possess.

I have a friend of mine who is searching for a bride for the last one-year or so. He must have seen at least two-dozen prospective brides but as of today has not zeroed in on any. In many cases, he was rejected on the beauty front [he is a bit bald] and in many other cases he rejected the girls, again on beauty front. Either the girl – according to him – is short or dark or has a rounded figure or plump. All other factors being of acceptable levels, the beauty-quotient failed him in the pairing up process.

I know guys are passionate about Cars and Wife. Guys attach highest priority for the beauty of a car; and in the girl that they plan to wed.

I asked my friend, “Sam, just imagine this. What if I come and stand in front of you as a prospective bride?” “I would definitely select you without any second thoughts!” Taking his reply at face value, I asked for his rationale for the answer. He said, “I know you very well. So the beauty factor is masked in your case. At the same time, if Anitha, the ‘beauty-queen’ in the office were to stand in front of me, I wouldn’t select her. Though she is beautiful, she is egoistic.” “So, while you are in the process of choosing a female as life-partner, why do you attach highest priority for beauty?” I asked him. “Because, apart from horoscope matching, beauty is the only thing that can be seen. I cannot see her mind, right?” I saw logic in that reply. “Post marriage, if you find incompatible with her, will you not feel sorry for having attached highest priority for beauty?” I asked him. “That is fate; that is destiny” he replied.

I called up my grandma and asked her – “Why do they say, Marriages are made in Heaven?” She replied, “Horoscope is based on planetary positions. In those days, marriages were all fixed by matching horoscope alone and not beauty. That saying does not hold good anymore” she said.

Now I understand that if you experience the Performance of a Car or the Mind of a Girl, the beauty factor gets relegated to the background. You can Test-Drive a Car to decide, but can you Test-Drive a Prospective-Bride?

Sindhu