Arraigned marriages

Today I was informed that N, one of my maintenance contractors, got married while on leave (most of the maintenance contractors are Indian). It was an arraigned marriage. Before N left he told his fellow coworkers that he was NOT going to get married as he wasn’t ready (he knew his mom had picked out a bride for him). In the end N gave in but does not plan to bring the new wifey back to Kuwait. N wants “to keep his freedom”. Doesn’t that sound like most of the American men working overseas sans wife, aka Geographical Bachelors!! Some thought processes cross all cultures.

During the discussion I asked S and A if their marriages were arraigned or not. One was and one was a love marriage. 90% of marriages in India are arraigned and the success rate is higher when an arraigned v. love marriage. Interesting. One of my real estate agents, W, was recently married and it was arraigned as well (W is Jordanian), his mother picked out his bride and W had only met her twice before the marriage. Just another example of how different other countries and cultures are from the US.

I was told by S that I should get married this year when I return home as I am bordering on too old already, that in India by the time you hit your 40’s you have grandchildren not new babies. Thanks S.