MARRIAGE MADE IN HYDERABAD

PAYAL GWALANI

Happy marriages are made in heaven while trigger-happy marriages are made in Hyderabad. From Pre-historic civilization to post-modern times, humans married for different reasons. For example, the Eskimo married to beat the polar chill for which a bunch not just one is preferred. The tribal perennially short of working hands married solely to procreate a private army and prospered because of it. In the global village that we live today, couples seek career bliss more than nuptial bliss. So Steffi Graf dumped her ex-fiancé to marry Andre Agassi, and Sania her childhood playmate to wed a cricketer. Or to look from a male perspective, Shoaib dropped Ayisha to tie knots with a winning tennis player.
Before the French Revolution, kings married to make peace. Since a kingdom had many neighbouring kingdoms, the King had to wed more than once. Since a king’s prestige is measured by the strength of his harem, he had to happily marry many more times than biologically needed. The 20th century saw the emancipation of woman, and the immediate result was the trend got reversed – women began to choose and men get chosen. In the new-found freedom, women eyed fame or surname to be precise. Gandhi and Nehru come with a price tag, while die-hards prefer Modi or Godbole. Fortune of course is the second preference of the emancipated women: Ambanis, Tatas, Birlas, Bajaj, or Premji, to court. In vogue now is the marriage of convenience – a Mumbai working girl prefers a Mumbai boy – rising above caste, culture and religion. With the nightmarish reality of transfers from one city to another, the marriage of convenience soon turns into a marriage of inconvenience.
To end on a futuristic note, don’t be surprised if Sania-Shoaib children play cricket for Pakistan, tennis for India and golf for Dubai – their fatherland, motherland and homeland respectively.